She's Gotta Be
by Corky the Quirk
Summary: Jacob may have thought he had imprinted on Nessie, but what happens when a sarcastic girl his age comes to Forks and interferes with everything?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** So I actually can't believe I'm writing a Twilight story...ha ha! This is just the prologue, and the first chapter will probably be up tonight as well, I just thought this boded better by itself than with the rest of the story, and you sort of get a little bit of a look into the main character's view of things...I still haven't decieded on a name for her. If you wish to give me suggestions that would be cool, I'm looking for a sort of boyish name if you want to try to come up with one. No rush, I don't use her name in the first chapter, so you can suggest a name after that chapter as well! Thanks! Here's the hideously short prologue!!

**Disclaimer:** I only own my origional character

* * *

Oh great. Another Monday.

I drag my feet, my converse slapping on the pavement as I make my way in the direction of school. I have no idea why my parents thought it would be a good idea to move to such a bleak area. Specifically one named after a dining utensil.

Really, who names a town _Forks_? Were they abundant back in the day or something? Or did the founder of the city have some sort of fork fetish?

Now that I've thought about it, I realize I don't care.

I glance up at the sky when I hear thunder.

In an instant the sidewalk's wet. Like usual. It's dark because of the cloud covering. As always. And it's pouring. Again.

I love it here. [Did I mention my soul has been removed to make room for my overflowing sarcasm?]

* * *

**Author's Note:** See what I mean by hideously short? ha ha! Leave a review please! They are much appreciated!


	2. A Walk In the Woods

**Author's Note:** So this chapter's short, yet significantly longer than the prologue! Remember, you're free to suggest a name for our main character! She's in need of one!

**Disclaimer:** I own the main character, who is nameless.

* * *

I have decided that although Jacob Black is one of the best looking boys in my grade, he still needs help. I have concluded this (and the fact that he will most likely evolve into some sort of pedophile in the future) by putting these pieces of the puzzle together:

1: He is friends with everyone but never hangs out with anyone. Sketchy if you ask me.

2: He has pictures of himself and a very young girl stuck all over his locker, much the same way that a normal high school boy would have pictures of porn stars posted up.

And 3: He does this weird thing where he tries to discreetly smell everybody. He doesn't think people notice, which is probably true except for the fact that when you have no social life or friends, like me, you tend to observe these things.

I have also come to realize that he might be kind of a creeper. Although I have no proof of this yet. But I'll find some I'm sure.

I mean, how can the kid _not_ be some creep if he rushes out of school with no intent of hanging out with any of his friends? Sure he probably has other friends at the reserve or wherever he used to go to school before he came to this high school, but he leaves in a hasty desperation _every day_. Sometimes he shoves people into lockers to get out, and that kid is _strong_.

* * *

I'm sitting at home and counting the drops of water that drip from our rain gutter. I've lost count at least a million times. My mom pops her head into my room, eyes too wide for a normal person, but this is my mom, and she's certainly not normal. She proves this statement by suggesting I play outside. She's crazy. I am not a child anymore, therefore I do not _play_ outside; plus it's raining.

I say "no" and hold back a rude hand gesture that I very much want to make.

In the end it turns out she wasn't worried about my well being at all when she told me to go outside. Instead she just wanted me to escort my brother on his walk over to his friend's house. I can't believe my brother, the booger picking Trekkie, has more friends than I do. God forbid the kid walk by himself. The worst that could happen to him is the Mother ship will pick him up, but knowing the boy, he'd spread his arms wide and yell "Beam me up Scottie!"…even thought that's not Star Trek…or is it? I don't know! Does it matter?

On the way home I decide to cut through the woods because it's only lightly misting under the trees rather than showering down. I have my hands shoved in the pockets of my rain jacket and my hood pulled over my curls. There's no point in even trying to straighten my hair in this part of the country.

I don't even notice there's someone behind me until I randomly glance over my shoulder and see her there. I raise one of my eyebrows. "Hi?"

She's got her eyes set on me in a carnivorous fashion and goosebumps rise on my arms. The girl's fingers are twitching as she crouches down, as if to pounce.

"Did you need something?" I ask rudely. Maybe the reason I have no friends is because everything I say ends up sounding rather harsh.

A malicious grin spreads across her marble face and she licks her lips, the same way my dad does when he's just caught sight of a particularly good looking prime rib or something else delicious. And she still has not answered my question, which really irritates me god damn it!

"Look—" I begin, but before I can even get the second word out she leaps the ten or so feet between us and grabs my wrist. Hard. "Shit!" I squeak out. "What the—OW!" She lunges her face at my neck, but stops abruptly and jerks her head to look off to the side, into the woods where a low grumble is emanating, and she snarls. "Let go dude!" I yell, trying to yank away, but she doesn't budge. At all. Which is odd. And her hand is horribly cold, like it's been plunged in a bucket of ice for too long.

A fierce growl comes form the woods and I stare, nearly as wide eyed as my mother, as a mammoth dog-like thing springs out amazingly quick from the underbrush and attacks the girl in front of me, crushing her into the ground.

She cries out, but it doesn't sound like she's in pain; she's just pissed. But finally my limp wrist is free! It seems broken, but I'm not exactly a doctor, and it's too cold from the woman's hand to tell if it even hurts. Plus I'm distracted by the bizarre event in front of me. The girl is putting up as good a fight as the dog. I'm fairly certain it's not normal for a young woman to be as strong as a wild, gigantic dog…

It's then that I realize I should be helping one of them. Which one I haven't yet decided, but I can't just stroll away whistling, so I shout "Hey!" trying to distract the animal from consuming the stalker. I know that sounds weird, but I couldn't just let the beast eat her, even if she did act rabid. "Hey! HEY!"

From behind me I hear a voice. "What's going—" I spin around to see Jacob Black glaring at the two on the forest floor. He looks angry and shocked at the same time.

"Jake!" I'm taken aback at myself; I've never really spoken to Jacob Black, and yet here I am, using his nickname to address him in the middle of the woods as a dog—massive in size—and a girl—too strong not to be on steroids—roll around trying to kill each other. I flail my left hand—"Ow!"—and decide to gesture with my other un-hurt arm instead. "Shouldn't we call—"

"Lemme see your wrist," he interrupts casually as the girl screams, this time in agony, making me jump and turn my head.

Jacob catches my face in his warm hand. "Don't look. Now let me see your arm." He grabs up my hand, poking and prodding.

"But—ow—"

"You need to see a doctor, c'mon," he instructs, leading me away from the fight.

"But—"

"I was either her killing you, or him killing her," he spits out. I shut up. For about a second.

"What? _Him_? How do you know it's a _him_? And _she_ was going to kill _me_?" Why the hell did that girl or whatever she was want to kill me? I mean, sure, I've illegally downloaded songs and occasionally jay-walked, but that shouldn't merit the death penalty now should it? I begin to hyperventilate, stopping dead in my tracks.

Jake gives me a withering glance. "Oh for heaven's sake. Come _on_."

"No! What—hey!"

Jacob Black has swept me off my feet. Literally. And so I kick him. And it doesn't work. In fact it's quite painful. "If you do that again, you'll probably end up with a broken foot too," he warns me with a chuckle. How can he chuckle?! Did he not just see what was taking place in the woods?

"What the _hell_?" I yell to nothing in particular.

"Don't worry," Jake reassures me. "We're close to Dr. Cullen's house. He'll be able to explain things much better than I could. Hopefully."

There is the shriek of something that sounds like a dying rabbit behind us and the smell of smoke. When I wriggle in Jacob's arms to see what's going on I realize that we're already out of the woods and that Jacob is going at an unnaturally fast pace.

"The girl—"

"Carlisle can explain that too," Jake stops my question.

I give him one of my skeptical faces, one of my eyebrows raised high.

He just chuckles.

* * *

**Author's Note:** So that's the first legit chapter. It would be awesome if you'd leave a review! Because without reviews I can never improve, nor will I feel motivated to continue! So thanks if you do! And thanks for reading even if you don't! :D


	3. Misfit

**Author's Note:** Yay! Thanks to all of you who reviewed! I absolutely loved all of the names you guys shared with me and if I could, I would use all of them, they are all so cool!!! I wish my name was a few of those, seriously. Anyway, *nameless girl*'s name will be revealed in this chapter [it was decided on after a hardcore game of eenie-meenie-minie-moe] and credit will be given at the end of the chapter so it's still a surprise for that reader as to what her name ended up being! So, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I own nameless girl...who now actually has a name...

* * *

I've been debriefed. I know of vampires. I know of werewolves. I must be the most normal thing in the area for once. Not to mention most mortal. The mythical creatures clearly can tell I'm about to have some sort of meltdown because they're all smiling in that really annoyingly sympathetic way. I wipe Jacob's sympathetic smile off his face with a nice lapful of vomit, which is various shades of the rainbow.

As Jacob runs to clean himself up, my heart pounds, particularly because the guy in the corner, Jasper, is eying me like I'm a cream puff or some other irresistible dessert. Which I'm not. I kind of want to scream "Humans are friends, not food!" But I restrain myself. Who knows, sudden movements or loud noises might set vampires off, and that probably wouldn't be so good, considering I'm in a house filled with them.

The feel of a very cold palm encircling my wrist jerks me out of my thoughts. Emmett, the massive one, is standing above me, grinning goofily from ear to ear. "That was one hell of a mess you made. Even in my partying days I never blew chunks like that," he discloses, although he seems proud at the volume of my barf, which is creepy yet funny and I'm not sure how to reply; so I merely raise one eyebrow and ask if I can go home, please.

"Er," Emmett seems unsure, and he looks across the room to Edward for assistance. Edward shakes his head no. Drat.

I study Edward for a second. He can supposedly read minds. "Yes, I can," he yells over to me in affirmation, drawing the attention of everyone in the room, which makes my stomach flip-flop with nerves, resulting in a repeat episode of before, as Jake had just re-taken his seat next to me.

"Aw, man," Jake exclaims, glaring down where a new puddle of my lunch is pooling once again in his crotchal region.

"Sorry," I blush in embarrassment, making Jasper fidget as the blood rises in my cheeks.

Jake sighs. "Not a big deal," he huffs, heading back to the bathroom.

I decide to see how in tune Edward is with his 'gift' and think: _I'm making Jasper wiggle. I wanna go home._

"That's too bad," Edward smirks. "For both of you."

I scowl, crossing my arms, careful of my now bandaged wrist. Stupid mind reading leech.

Edward chuckles. "That was rather derogatory. You seem to have been hanging around with the dog too much," he hypothesizes.

My jaw drops and so does Jacob's, considering that's the line he reentered the room on. "What did she think?" he demands to know.

"None of your business," Edward informs Jake haughtily.

"It's none of yours either," Jake points out angrily. And I have to say, I agree with him.

They begin to verbally spar and I mockingly mumble, "Battle royaaaaal."

This annoys Bella, who glares at me, then rises from her seat and tries to stop the boys from killing each other; which they just might due, considering their argument has become much more heated and is most likely no longer about whether my thoughts are anybody's business but my own.

Bella glares at me once again as I begin to chuckle at the petty fight before me. Oh no, I've angered the beast!

Edward breaks away from the struggle for a second to remind me that he can hear me think of his wife as a beast. Bella glares some more, but the blond one, Rosalie, smirks and gives me a curt nod of approval. Good to know she accepts me…sort of.

A tiny girl plops down next to me and blinks innocently with large eyes. "Hello…" I half-heartedly greet her. I'm not really into kids.

Jacob leans over the couch and lovingly gazes at the girl. He and Edward have apparently had enough of each other for now. "This is Nessie," the werewolf practically coos.

"Okay…"

"Nessie, this is Reece," he introduces us.

The girl looks at Jake and nods, then swivels in her seat to face me once again. She reaches out with both hands towards my face and I back away. I have this thing about being touched. I don't like it.

A hush falls throughout the room and Nessie is obviously disappointed. Oops.

"She's iffy about being touched," Edward explains sensitively. I'd very much appreciate it if he would get out of my head. He hears that too and grins. Bella looks as if she's trying to decapitate me with her eyes. How dare I reject her spawn.

Nessie doesn't seem to care that I dislike other people's hands and reaches out once again. "Um, no," I say, very clearly, holding up my index finger so that she'll understand.

She furrows her eyebrows and jumps at me swiftly, trapping me beneath her tiny little body. "For the love of--!" I shriek, but she's gazing deep into my eyes and telling me, no showing me, her story in less than a minute. I see Bella lying with a bulbous and bruised stomach, Edward in agony, Jake and a few other La Push residents wandering outside. Then she shows me a picture of a delectable looking sirloin steak and interchanges this image with a picture of my head, along with a few frightening visions of a blood thirsty vampire. She's explaining why I was attacked. She breaks away and sits down again, content with herself.

Oh please, as if I didn't know the vampire wanted to eat me. Honest, I thought she was going to invite me back to her lair for tea. I hear Edward cough; he doesn't care for me thinking so sarcastically about what his daughter deems suitable to show me.

"Why am I not allowed to leave again?" I ask rudely.

Nobody answers and instead they all jump to ask me what Nessie showed. I roll my eyes and give in. "You—" I point to Bella "—fat. You—" I point to Edward "—angst ridden. And you—" I point to Jake "—prowling around like a creeper."

No one seems satisfied with my blunt answer.

* * *

"I wasn't fat," Bella clarifies as she gracefully sits down next to me, cradling Nessie in her cold arms. "I was pregnant."

"Therefore fat," I utter. I'm not in the best of moods considering I've been here for what seems like eternity.

Carlisle enters the room before Bella can respond to my comment. "I've called your parents Reece, just so they're informed," he tells the room.

I tilt my head. "Oh, really? And they accepted the fact that I'm being held against my will by characters from a Harry Potter novel?"

Carlisle smiles. "I told them you'd be staying for dinner."

My eyes pop wide and Bella laughs from her perch beside me. It's not a very nice laugh I decide. Jacob, who eerily enough is hardly more than five feet from Nessie at any given point in time, lays a comforting hand on my shoulder. He's standing behind the couch rather than sitting next to me, which is probably a good idea. "Not like _that_," he explains.

I'm still uncertain.

Jake rolls his eyes. "You're just being chicken. Do you even know how many people would _love_ to be eating with werewolves? And vampires too, I guess," he adds the last part quietly.

"I'm not one of those many people you speak of," I clarify, just so he knows, even more, how terribly much I don't want to be there.

Nessie squirms from Bella's arms and crawls onto my lap, making herself comfortable. Jacob begins to chortle to himself. I see why. Bella's face is most likely a mirror image of my own. Splayed across it are irritation and awe at the fact that her daughter decided on my lap instead. And although I'm not a people person, specifically not a _young_ people person, I can't help but smirk. And that, my friends, is not something you do to an angry vampiric mother.

* * *

"Well, she definitely broke it again," Carlisle explains, pressing against the skin of my wrist. Oh really, Carlisle? She broke my wrist? I guess I didn't realize it when it snap-crackle-popped for the second time today! How keen of you to point it out!

Edward laughs next to me and Emmett engulfs me in a giant hug. He is the life size teddy bear I always wanted but never had. He pulls away, claps me on the back, and grins. "You'll be just fine! Carlisle'll fix ya right up; just, uh, don't mess with Bella…"

No shit, Sherlock. I shrug though. "Once I get home, I doubt I'll see any of you again. 'Cept for maybe Carlisle if I need a check-up or something…and Jake at school…"

Edward looks a little bit uncomfortable at this statement and Emmett shifts his muscular form from one foot to the other. Both of them are stealing glances at Carlisle, who looks perfectly peachy.

I give the doc a look. "I _do_ get to leave, don't I?"

Carlisle smiles easy. "Of course you do, Jake will take you home right after you two eat. It's just, we may have to keep you under surveillance for a while. You know, in case of any more rogue vampires appearing."

"You're joking, right?" I ask, deadpan.

"…No."

My eyes are beginning to bug out and I start to flail my arms, which, I'm sure, makes it very difficult for Carlisle to finish off my wrist. That is, until he seizes my arm with an iron grip. "Well," Carlisle proceeds, "there's a good chance that this vampire is a lone nomad; however, there is also the slight chance that she came from a pack. If that is the case, they may want to hunt you down, as a sort of revenge."

Emmett leans towards Edward and mumbles, "De ja vu?"

Edward grimaces at that. "Not funny Emmett. I went through hell with Victoria."

I want to inquire as to whom this Victoria that they are speaking of is, but before I can even get a word out, an excited Esme sweeps me out of the room and plops me down at an elegant table. There's an unbelievably enormous platter of pasta and salad and breadsticks spread out at my place setting. Across from me Jacob has a tray of his own. And, excuse the pun, is wolfing down the food like there's no tomorrow. He grins at me, still chewing, then dives in for more.

I gingerly pick up my fork, peer up at the eager faces of Esme and Alice as they bob their heads in encouragement, and begin to eat.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And so goes the third chapter. And nameless girl has a name! REECE!!! woo!! Thanks to 808LONEWOLF801 for contributing it :D Also, you may have caught the references to Finding Nemo, Accepted, and Harry Potter...they're in there...so here's the credit. Review with comments and criticism [but be relatively nice, thanks] and any ideas of what you think would be totally cool to add to the story! Thanks!!!


	4. Insomniatic Ne'er Do Well

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews guys! Here's another chapter! One of you is a pretty good guesser, even if you didn't mean to be!

**Disclaimer:** Reece is my character, thanks.

* * *

It was a rarity in Forks to have a peaceful, quiet night that didn't involve the sky falling down on all of our heads. By now the pitter-patter was like a sort of lullaby to me that never failed to lull me to sleep.

Well. Almost never.

But I had a feeling that no matter how lulling the rain was or wasn't that night, it wouldn't be able to give me my forty winks. Nothing would.

I sat, massaging the skin around the cast on my wrist. My parents had believed the story they were given; which involved me, a tree, and a rather unfortunate accident that ended up with me beneath the tree. Supposedly it was a wonder I wasn't injured more.

Knowing what had actually happened, it was a wonder I wasn't dead.

And those thoughts were what kept me up that first night. And the one after that. And the one after that. And so on.

It was odd, but I found I could only fall to sleep, however shallow a sleep it was, when Jacob Black was in the surrounding area. I guess my body felt safe and was able to relax or something. Too bad the only time of the day Jacob was near was during chemistry class.

After successfully burning off not only _my_ eyebrows, but my two lab partner's as well, Mr. Craney, the stuffy old man who somehow got his teaching degree and became a teacher, booted me out of class and straight to in-school-suspension, more commonly known as ISS.

Now, I had been a regular in the ISS room ever since I had arrived in Forks. It appeared that sarcastic, rude comments not only warded off potential friends, but also seemed to royally piss teachers off as well. So I was accustomed to the way things worked in the windowless dungeon the school deemed worthy enough to keep us naughty children in.

I entered in my usual fashion, nodding at Ms. Shen and taking my assigned set. Yeah, I had an assigned seat, so high were the number of times I had graced the room.

"I'm liking the new look," Ms. Shen smiled, raising her own eyebrows at my lack of such hair.

I made a face. "Yes, well, I decided they just didn't suit me and I should start fresh," I informed her.

"You do know you're still smoldering though, right?" Ms. Shen asked, taking on a serious tone.

I bobbed my head 'yes' before drooping like a dehydrated daisy onto my desk. I was completely drained from my lack of sleep, not to mention I was legally insane since I hadn't really been able to sleep in over seventy-two hours.

But even in the undisturbed silence of the ISS room, I couldn't get my brain to stop churning over the likelihood that a blood sucking monster could burst through the door at any moment, drag me to their bat cave, and exact whatever kind of revenge it is that vampires exact upon their enemies. It wasn't something I looked forward to.

However, instead of a blood sucking monster, I got a shape-shifting one.

Jacob Black went through all the normal procedure of ISS formalities and plopped heavily into the seat next to me. And none to easily I might add. That boy was _big_.

"Hey," he greeted me with a grin.

Now this was odd. Jake almost never got in trouble, and when he did, no teachers ever sent him away. It was like a slap on the wrist, then on with class, children! So, my mouth, working of it's own accord blurted, "What're you doing here?"

Jake took no offence and merely grinned. "I figured you could use some sleep."

I fell out of my chair. How did he know I was only at ease when_ he_ was present? How I ask you? How?!

Ms. Shen was leaning over her desk, staring at me sprawled out on her prison floor, along with the few other people in the room, all of whom most likely thought I was a lunatic. In fact, I was beginning to question my insanity as well.

"Reece? Are you okay?" Ms. Shen asked warily, as if she was scared of my answer. Why yes Ms. Shen, I commonly fall out of my chairs in a fit of joy.

Jacob had reached over to help me back into my chair and I nodded that I was fine. Ms. Shen nervously returned to her knitting, or whatever it was that woman did all day, and I went back to gaping at Jake.

"Like Carlisle said," he explained. "We've been keeping an eye on you."

"_We?_" I inquired, raising the area on my face that once was home to an eyebrow.

Jake shrugged. "Me, the Cullens."

"You mean you've all been _spying_ on me?" I shrieked, receiving a look of disapproval from Ms. Shen. "Sorry."

"If that's what you want to call it," Jake continued. "We've just been making sure you're okay."

"And am I 'okay' according to your standards?" I hissed, a bit ticked off. What was with everyone and asking if I was okay?

He gave me a withering glance. "No. You need sleep.'

"Well I can't sleep during school," I protested, crossing my arms.

Jake coughed, which sounded much more like a covered up laugh, and grinned at me. "Yeah you can. Did you already forget chemistry?"

I burrowed down into my chair and grumbled. "That's not real sleep. That's me being drowsy."

"Well you don't sleep at home either," he pointed out.

"Creeper," I mumbled. See, I said I'd get proof.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Look, you only sleep when I'm around. Carlisle says that has something to do with your natural instincts feeling safe or something, I don't know," he waved his hand vaguely at his poor explanation. "Anyway, I thought you could sleep over at the reserve, just to see if you can fall asleep there, as a sort of experiment."

I laughed out loud, not thinking to try to hide my outburst. But Ms. Shen didn't even bother to scold me; I was pretty sure she had given me up as a lost cause. I drew my attention back to Jake. "I'm sure my parents would be _thrilled_ with the idea of me staying at 'Teen Wolf's house."

"I'm not like 'Teen Wolf'!" Jake replied, offended. "Have you seen the size of that kid?"

"Hey!" I cried in defense. "Do _not_ make fun of Marty McFly's size!"

"That's not even the actor's name," he said in frustration. "And yeah, I know your parents would say no to you staying at my house. But I've got an idea."

"Oh, this'll be brilliant," I moaned, counting how many minutes there were until the bell rang.

* * *

"Hi mom!" I shouted cheerily when she opened the front to door to greet me when I arrived home from school.

"Hello," she replied warily, glancing at the scowling girl beside me. "And, uh, who is your guest, Reece?" she asked, stepping out of the way so we could enter the house.

"Oh, this?" I said airily as I stepped nonchalantly over the threshold. "This is Leah Clearwater, mom. She's super nice." Leah hadn't even given the slightest hint that her face could form an expression of joy, let alone an expression of anything near a pleasant attitude. "I'm staying at her house tonight."

My mother made a noise of shock. I don't know if it was over the fact that I had made a 'friend' or that Leah was kind of freaky in her sulkiness. "Oh, well, okay dear, but make sure you stay away from trees, they're dangerous," my mother warned.

"Er, okay mom, I'll talk to the strangers instead."

My mom looked horrified. "You know what I mean missy!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be careful," I assured the woman before me as I dragged Leah up the stairs. "I'm just gonna get my stuff together and we'll be out of your hair."

We entered the box that was my bedroom and I began to rummage through my dresser drawers, searching for pajamas and other articles of clothing I thought I might need. Leah stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, unsure as to what to do. "You can sit, you know," I told her, glancing up momentarily from my underwear hunt. Leah nodded, brushing off a few dirty shirts and a pair of jeans from my bed and plopped down. "It's really nice of you to pretend to let me come over to your house," I said, attempting to start a conversation with the she-wolf. Leah wasn't much of a talker when it was just me and her, but when Jake was around, all she did was spit insults at him. I liked her from the start.

But I wasn't a fan of the silence between us. It was weird and uncomfortable and I wanted to tell her to speak. Although I'm not sure how well that would have went over with her being a sensitive werewolf and all.

Leah nodded, again, to my statement, not opening her mouth even a tiny bit. "Okay then," I mumbled to myself, entering the bathroom to retrieve my toiletries.

I shoved everything into an old duffle bag and Leah and I bolted down the stairs, trying to reach the front door, and freedom, without my mom noticing. We failed.

"Reece! Leah!" she called, shuffling up to us with a tray in her hands. "Here, take some cookies. They're delicious, I made them this afternoon. Yum, yum!"

"Mom. We realize that your cookies are good. You don't have to say 'yum'." My mother was so strange. I grabbed the tray from her hands, half-heartedly kissed her on the cheek and ran out the door to where Jake was waiting a block away in a beat up truck.

"Everything go well?" he asked as the two of us climbed in.

"Would she be in the vehicle if it hadn't?" Leah spat, buckling herself into the back seat.

Jake glared at her through the rearview mirror and shifted into drive.

"Are those cookies?" he asked in a high pitched voice, his eyes growing wide.

"...yeah," I replied, afraid he'd not only eat the whole tray, but me in the process by the way he was looking at the chocolate chip cookies residing on my lap. "Here," I offered up the tray. "Go ahead."

"Thanks!" he bellowed, taking three in one hand and shoving them unceremoniously into his rather large trap.

"You're such a pig," Leah muttered condescendingly.

Jake laughed and extended his hand for more cookies.

When we reached Leah's house she said, "Mom probably wants to see you. Seth too." I couldn't tell if she was talking to me, or Jake, since I wasn't actually staying at Leah's house.

The plan had been to drop Leah off, and then I would stay at Jake's, most likely camping out on the floor in a comfy sleeping bag or something. Carlisle and Billy knew all about it. Carlisle was interested to see the results, and Billy was a little guarded about it all.

"Alright," Jake gave in. "But he's not getting any cookies!"

Both Jake and I got out of the truck and trudged up the front walk to the door, where Leah pounded mercilessly until it was opened by an irritable young man. "God Leah!" he shouted.

"Hey Seth," she replied in monotone, brushing past him and into the home.

Seth shook his head, then noticed Jake. "Jake, dude! What's up, who's—"

It seemed as if Seth had been frozen. He just stared at me while Jake's eyes bugged out and he groaned. "Crap Seth, why now? Why _her_?"

I looked from Seth to Jake. "Why now what? What are you talking about Jake?"

Seth was shaking his head, maybe trying to clear his thoughts, and when he looked back up at us, he resembled a love sick puppy, nearly complete with his tongue almost sticking out.

"Seth, man, why?" Jake was still going on.

But Seth didn't answer. He just stared.

And I stood. Utterly confused.

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**Author's Note:** So there's that chapter. I'm excited that Seth is now in the story, I've always loved him :D

Leave a review please! Thanks!


	5. Maybe the 'Printer's Broken

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I'm sorry about the really long wait, I've been pretty busy lately and haven't really had much time to write, let alone think of plot and what-not. But finally here's another chapter so that's good! And thanks so much for your reviews, I really enjoy them :)

**Disclaimer:** Reece is mine.

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"Oh God," Jake was shaking his head as if he'd never be able to shake it again.

I widened my eyes at him. "_What_?" We were still standing on the Clearwater's front porch with Seth eerily drooling over me and Jake acting completely mortified and looking as if he was going to cry.

Leah made her way back to the door when she heard Jake in pain, most likely to watch and laugh, which would have been fun to do, except I know nothing of what is going on. I punched Jake in the arm to get his attention, but I think it just caused my other wrist to break instead. Leah pushed past Seth to catch a glimpse of Jake in agony, then turned to Seth for an explanation. Apparently the look on Seth's face was all she needed to burst out into uncontrollable fits of laughter, because she buckled over and howled in entertainment.

This efficiently pissed me off because I was still as clueless as everyone else in Forks who had no clue that werewolves even existed. "It's not funny, Leah," Jake grimaced. "This is gonna make things far more difficult."

Between giggles, yes, Leah, the stone cold woman who earlier had shown no signs of emotion besides irritation, was giggling, she replied, "What are you talking about? This makes things so much easier, now she's got her own personal wolf." And then whatever she said was lost in her cheerful guffaws.

Now I was thoroughly and utterly lost. What did she mean by 'personal wolf'? "Jake!" I shouted. If I had to, I'd go do cartwheels in the road to get his, or anyone's, attention at that moment. "What the hell is going on?"

Jake pursed his lips and hit Seth upside the head, "Yeah Jake?" the obviously younger werewolf asked, tearing his eyes away from me for about three point five seconds before stealing another chaste glance.

"Stop it," Jake ordered half-heartedly. "You don't even know her name."

Seth's smile took up the whole lower half of his face when he inquired, "Did you know Nessie's name right away?"

"Do not bring her into this conversation," Jake warned, quivering enough that Leah laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, which shocked me more than the whole Seth-being-really-really-freaky thing because I didn't know Leah was able to fathom even being kind to Jake, let alone attempt to calm him down. But I suppose deep down she may have possibly loved her brother and didn't want Jake ripping him to shreds in front of a guest. How rude.

Seth's smile was not to be fazed as he turned back to me and extended his hand, "I'm Seth." No shit, Sherlock.

"I figured," I informed him, sneaking a wary peek at his huge and inviting palm.

He blinked at me with large chocolate eyes that could make anyone melt. Except me for some reason, because I merely stared back at him with my eyebrows raised…if my eyebrows had grown back yet that is. I mean, mom had taught me how to draw eyebrows on, so I still looked relatively decent considering, but nothing compares to the real thing, right? Anyway, after a few minutes of Seth staring at me in the same fashion, Jake simply grabbed my good hand and placed in Seth's big paw.

It was as if this little gesture, even though forced, made Seth's day. No, his _life_. "This is Reece," Jake introduced us.

I gave Seth a tight smile, and the next thing I knew I was engulfed in the kid's arms as he quickly hugged me and then released me again once he had sensed the signs of rejection that my rigged and unmoving body sent out.

"Right, so, she'll be at my house Seth, so, if you want, you can come over in the morning," Jake let Seth know, scratching the back of his neck in that way that guys do.

Seth's face visibly fell, as if he had just found out Santa Claus, in fact, did not exist. "You mean you're leaving?" Pain was clearly evident in the boy's voice.

For some reason I felt compelled to comfort him, so I hit him, playfully, mind you, in the arm and grinned, "Hey, Jake said you can visit in the morning, kid, so don't sweat it."

I don't know if Seth's brain even computed the words that came out of my mouth, he seemed to be to busy imitating a bobble head and smiling sheepishly.

"So, see ya," Jake ended the love fest that consisted of Seth alone and pulled me back to the truck.

It was once we were on our way towards Jake's house that I realized I was still out of the loop. "Wait, so what happened back there?" I asked, needing an answer before I combusted with confusion.

Jake gave me this look that said 'You honestly don't know?!?!' question marks and exclamation points included, so I raised a drawn on eyebrow at him and demanded an answer with my glare. "Well," Jake stammered, as if not sure what words to use around me. "Seth, sort of just…man, I can't believe you don't _know_."

"Get on with it!" I yelled loudly, causing him and his sonic ears to wince right into the driver's side window.

"Dear God you're loud," he pointed out and continued before I could raise my voice for a second time. "Anyway, Seth just, well, he kind of sort of maybe really did actually imprint on you…" He trailed off, as if afraid I was going to freak out, but he was unaware that I really didn't understand the concept of imprinting and so I was therefore, at the moment, unaffected.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Cool."

Jake's mouth fell open. "Cool? Seth Clearwater just imprinted on you and all you can do is say 'cool'?"

It was then that I realized I must be missing a rather large piece of the puzzle. "What exactly is imprinting again?"

Jake rolled his eyes, whether at my ignorance or in annoyance I couldn't tell, before launching into a long-winded explanation of how when a werewolf imprints they've found their one and only and the world, from that day on, revolves around that one special person and blah blah blah blah. I zoned out after that. I mean, no way could Seth actually think I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. He didn't even know my last name, and I didn't even know how old he was, but I had a feeling he was younger, just by the way he acted and by the way he was treated. When Jake was finished with his long spiel he gave me another look, expecting a different answer.

I didn't know what else to do, so, in my typical annoying way, the exact way that has prevented me from having any friends in the first place, I shrugged my shoulders and repeated, "Cool."

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So apparently I'm strange for not having the same affinity for Seth that he has for me. Call me odd all you want, but I am not a big believer in love at first sight. Lust? Yes. Love? No. So this whole imprinting thing, which, for some reason, was barely mentioned in the short werewolf education Carlisle gave me because it was so 'rare', places me in a rather awkward situation. I mean what do they expect me to do? Go home and tell my very uppity mother that the boy I will one day be married to and popping out children for lives in La Push, and oh yeah, is a werewolf. That would definately go over well considering my mother's canine allergies.

Jake is completely perplexed that I don't mirror Seth's affection. But honestly, why did _I_ have to be imprinted on? Couldn't it have been the next girl that knocked on the door? I mean sure, Seth is cute and adorable, like a puppy…a puppy with washboard abs, so that's a little weird, but overall, I don't _know_ Seth; so how can I _like_ Seth if I don't _know_ Seth? This argument does nothing to convince Jake of anything, particularly the washboard abs part which he simply rolled his eyes at when it was mentioned.

"You would notice his body," Jacob chuckled later that night once we had escaped the adoration hell that was Seth's front steps.

"Well excuse me," I defended myself. "But maybe he should be more careful about not wearing a shirt when he opens the door."

Jake laughed at that. After all, it wasn't my fault that werewolves often had a lack of clothing due to the fact that their temperatures are sky high. I sighed, thinking about how this imprinting would affect _my_ life. "So am I like, doomed to end up with Seth now? Or what?" I asked, crinkling up my nose, trying to picture a future with a boy I didn't even know. I thought of his abs and figured our children would certainly be in shape if they got his genes.

Jake propped himself up on his elbows and peered down at me. He was in his bed and I was camping out on his floor, my arms crossed underneath my head as I stared up at his shadowed face. "Interesting choice of words," he smirked in the moonlight, so I figured he approved of my usage of the word 'doomed'. "And I guess I don't know. I've never heard of someone not liking their, er, imprinter."

"Well, what if," I began, trying to think of some sort of example, "what if Nessie grows up and realizes there's more fish in the sea than just you?" Bad idea.

Werewolf's nerves are more sensitive than humans it appears because the next thing I knew I was being pinned to the ground by a very furious Jacob Black. "Don't even _think_ that," he growled.

I gulped, not quite sure what to do, so I merely breathed out, "Watch the wrist."

This seemed to break his irrational rage because he sat up so that he was only straddling me, which, I am horrified to admit I kind of enjoyed in an odd and slightly horny kind of way. I mean, give me a break, I'm a social leper, I don't have much experience with boys, let alone hot werewolves. He exhaled shakily and ran his fingers through his dark hair. I propped myself up on my elbows, apologizing, "Look, I didn't mean it as an insult or anything; I was just wondering; I'm sure you two will end up happily ever after…or however a werewolf and, er, whatever Nessie is, are supposed to end up…"

Jake smiled at my attempt. "Sure, sure," he allowed. "And, uh, sorry for overreacting." He glanced down shyly at me.

"That's okay," I said, granting him forgiveness; he was, after all, pretty much the only friend I had, and a giant dog capable of tearing me apart, so I didn't really have a choice.

It seemed that at that moment he realized the compromising position that he had got us into and quickly sprang into the air and back into his bed, blushing madly. I wouldn't think he'd blush so bad. I mean, he knew for certain that he was to be with Nessie, so any sort of sexual encounter, even an innocent and accidental one, he should have just been able to wave away without embarrassment because he knew it not only meant nothing, but would also lead to nothing, right? But Jake appeared utterly humiliated. So, me being me, I decided to stoke the fires. "So…Jacob," I whispered quietly. "You got abs like Seth's, too?" It took all the self control I had to keep from laughing at Jake's very visible mental squirming.

"Erm, yeah," he answered truthfully, if not a little bashfully.

I smirked. "Can I see them?" I questioned in a purposefully husky voice that I was certain would send the boy into silent hysterics. And I was right.

The last thing he said before rolling onto his side and ignoring me was, "Aren't you here to sleep?"

But I got in the last words. "Yeah," I chuckled. "With you."

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**Author's Note:** There you have it! Leave a review thanks!


	6. Freak

**Author's Note:** So this is a relativly fast update, and I'm not quite sure what I think of this chapter yet, but I figured I'd give it go and see what happens. Thanks so much for all of your wonderful reviews! I lurv them! Enjoy :)

**Disclaimer:** Reece belongs to me.

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So although I may have mentally and verbally tortured Jacob Black with my sexual innuendos, I am the one paying for it, because with all my suggestiveness, my brain somehow got tricked into _dreaming_ about what those innuendos were about. And let me tell you, it is _so_ awkward waking up to see the naked torso of the man-wolf who played the starring role in your sex dream slumped out of his bed and drooling on the floor next to you while the lower part of his body still resides in his bed. Not to mention the fact that the door bell rang five minutes later, announcing the arrival of my future boyfriend or husband or lover or whatever it was Seth was destined to be to me.

Jacob's lower body sprang up into the air at the alarming sound, causing him to fully leave his bed and land full out on top of me. And all my sleepy brain could manage to think was _Dear God, it's the dream! Yessss!_ But then Jake grinned timidly, mumbled, "Sorry Reece," and reality gave me a fairly decent bitch slap up the side of the head as Jake pulled on some pants and went to answer the door, complaining, "I swear, I thought that kid was annoying _before_, now it's gonna be hell."

I concentrated on taking deep breaths and calming my body down. The boy had no idea how much like hell things were going to be. I quickly ran my fingers through the tangled brown mess on top of my head in a weary attempt to look decent before I plodded down the hallway still in my pajamas, which consisted of rather short shorts and a relatively fitted t-shirt. It was no big deal, it's what I wore to bed every night for as long as my poor, worn-out brain could remember, but I hadn't thought of any consequences, ya know? I mean, I wasn't exactly a social butterfly that thought out every last detail about what they were going to wear and how those around me would react…which, looking back, maybe I should have. At least a little bit.

Seth openly gaped from his seat on the coffee table, and I think I saw Jake do a double take as he closed the door. See, the night before, I had changed and was already cuddled up in my sleeping bag and ready for some shut eye by the time Jake had finished in the bathroom, therefore he had not caught sight of my attire. But what I found odd was that Jake even noticed what I was wearing at all. I'm not saying I didn't mind. Maybe I did; maybe I didn't. Not the point. The point was that Jake had imprinted on Nessie; he wasn't supposed to gawk at my legs or navel region. _But he was._

And I was all like GAH! Because I had come to find Jacob Black to be amazingly hot and figured I would just have to suffer being friends with him because I had no chance with him what with Nessie and Seth, but then he looked as if he was going to tackle me then and there, even with Seth in the surrounding area, and have his way with me, which I was all for in a still groggy, I-just-woke-up kind of way.

Sadly, Jake shook his head, as if he had just realized what he had been blasphemously thinking, and had this hideously confused look about him before asking, "So, uh, how did you sleep?"

I glanced down at the carpet, not able to meet either of the werewolves' eyes and replied lamely with, "Good."

Jake grinned. "So Carlisle was right? You feel safer with a wolf around when you sleep."

"I'll sleep with you," Seth blurted out, then quickly covered his mouth in that 'oh shit I just said that' manner that everyone does once they've vomited up some unexpected and unwanted words.

I fidgeted. "Erm, thanks Seth," I said with an inflection, so it sounded like I was questioning my thanks.

Both Jake and Seth's faces burned crimson, although I think Jake was turning that lovely shade in order to hold in a big huge werewolf laugh fest. "I didn't mean like that," Seth stammered awkwardly, assuming correctly that all of our minds had come to the dirty meaning of his comment first, "I mean, I _would_, but not unless you wanted to…but I meant…like…yeah." He smacked himself in the forehead, muttering, "Idiot."

I couldn't help but smile at the tongue-tied boy in front of me, which was weird, because I typically revel in the glory of making people even more uncomfortable than they already are, but I digress. I had to hand it to him, he was adorable in a hot way…which doesn't make a whole ton of sense now that I've thought about it, but it was true. He had that face that just emanated innocence, but you knew, just by looking at his body, that Seth could be anything but innocent if he wanted to be. If he had ever wanted to, he could probably have been some sort of player, because it seemed that all of the girls at Forks High wanted a little bit of Quileute lovin' for some reason. I suppose in a way I was lucky that he imprinted on me, then. I mean, it was like a fallback plan that I didn't even have to plan, although I felt majorly guilty for thinking of Seth as a backup plan, specifically because he would come back time and time again no matter how many times he was hurt…which I was hoping I wouldn't do, but it's not like I could make any promises.

"So what's up Seth?" I asked, attempting to avert his embarrassment.

Seth shrugged, giving me a grin in return. "Nothin'. I just thought I'd come hang out."

Jake rolled his eyes. "Don't get all lovey-dovey on me, guys."

"I have to put up with you and Nessie," Seth pointed out before adding, "And we're _not_ getting lovey-dovey, Jake; we're just talking."

"And you're drooling over her," Jake smirked, pretending to gag.

I raised an eyebrow, aiming to bring Jake down a peg or two, coming to Seth's defense by saying, "I caught _your_ eyes too, dude."

Seth whipped his head around so fast I thought it was going to come unscrewed and land on Jacob's floor. Jake burned crimson, a sure sign he was guilty as charged, as Seth stared at him in horror, "But--but--you…Nessie? Whaaa?"

Jacob seemed frozen in time, trying to think of something to say, something _believable_ that is, because he apparently knew if he tried to say he hadn't been looking at me, he'd not only sound absolutely ridiculous, but I'd call him on it too. Not to mention, if Jake didn't come up with something fast, I'm pretty sure Seth was going to attack him in a blaze of fur and adolescent glory. And I think when I saw that look on Seth's face it finally hit me. Seth was _mine_. And I know that sounds super territorial, but that's not how I mean it. I mean, Seth would do anything for me, it was like I owned him. And I wasn't sure if I liked that or not. I didn't like to think that I owned a person…but…it was like I _did_ own Seth…

"Look, Seth," Jake started, as if fearing for his life even though I knew he was the leader of the pack or whatever and could tell Seth to do anything he wanted, but hey, as I had learned, never mess with a werewolf and the girl (or boy I guess if Leah applied) they imprint on. "I'm, uh, not interested in Reece in any way even remotely close to romantic, okay? I've got Nessie, and she's all I need."

I found this hard to believe, considering Jake was a teenage guy and he thought all he needed was some vampiric toddler to make him happy. And yeah, so he's imprinted on Nessie, but really, he's a _guy_. But once again, I digress. If Jake wants to act all chaste and what not, let him act. It's not like I'm interested in Jake in any way even remotely close to romantic, right? Sure, he's tall, dark, and handsome, but Seth has all that going for him too…so why did that really irritating corner of my mind that'd like to have removed wish that Jacob Black had been the one to imprint on me instead? I didn't know Jake all that well either, so it's not like he had some sort of emotional advantage on my feelings.

Seth, in all his naivety, slowly nodded his head and you could just tell he was thinking, 'Alright, I'll let it slip this time, but don't let it happen again' or something along those lines. Right now he was playing the protective older brother, and as most younger sisters in similar situations felt, I was both pleased at his attention and annoyed at it. Let Jake eat his heart out when he saw me, I'd never be his. Curse you Nessie!

Actually, don't get cursed, because then I'm thinking I'd have to endure all of Jake's dramatic attempts to _un_curse you, and God only knows that'd kill me having to be nice all the time while he gallantly tried to figure out how to get Nessie well again. Because I can guarantee Jake would rip my throat out if I even suggested giving up on Nessie and just writing her up as a lost cause. Cuz he had imprinted damn it.

Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, there was another knock, well more of a loud banging, on Jake's front door, and in came three other guys, none of which were sporting t-shirts; so I was stuck in a room with five guys, all with amazing abdominal muscles, with only shorts and a tight shirt on. So automatically I figured they too were werewolves, because of their abs. Okay, no, not because of their abs (have I mentioned their abs? ABS ABS ABS) I knew because of how they had no shirts on and how they grinned knowingly at Seth as he blushed and how one of them was also ogling me and uttering, "_Niiiiiice_, Seth, _niiiiiice._"

I crossed my legs self-consciously and looked imploringly at Jake, begging for either an introduction or an excuse to go and change into something decent, like at least a pair of jeans. But Jake was merely staring in shock at two of the guys that had come in, particularly the one that looked uber cocky. In the end, it was Seth who introduced everyone. He cleared his throat to get some attention, not that he needed to, considering they had tackled him onto the ground and were good-naturedly ruffling his hair. "Guys, this is--"

"Reeeeeeeeeeeece!" the three of them cheered loudly, turning back to me.

The cocky one stood up and grinned, but not leeringly like I expected, which sounds very vain of me, but if Jake was caught that morning looking me up and down, I figured the guy that looked like the ladies' man of the bunch would be slightly attracted to me. But no. All he said was, "Yo, I'm Paul," and we shook hands. Because I wanted to see if he'd even peek at anything of mine, I stuck my chest, slightly obvious after taking in the faces of Seth, Jake, and one of the new guys, and replied:

"Well, I'm Reece," and then I flipped my hair stupidly over my shoulder.

AND I GOT NOTHING! Not even a cheeky smile! Just, "Oh, I know, Seth showed us."

That's when it crossed my mind that Seth most likely ran to everyone's houses shouting, "I imprinted! I imprinted!"

"Well actually," the other guy that took no notice of my sex appeal (of which I would have had if I was able to meet a guy that didn't get turned off by my dry sarcasm and heartless wit) started speaking, "He showed me and Embry, and we just told Paul."

I glanced over at the other new guy, Embry, and realized that he was still staring at my boobs. That's when I became conscious of the fact that I still had my bosom stuck out for the whole world to see in an attempt to draw Paul in, in an attempt to prove that it wasn't just Jake who was able to both imprint _and_ enjoy a nice view of my legs…and other womanly wiles. But clearly Jake was a freak, and there was nothing that could help him.

"Hi Embry," I smiled, and, just because I'm the dork I was born to be, I decided to see how far Embry was willing to intently look at my bod before he would come to his senses. Or before Seth decided to eat him. I took a deep breath, which, consequently resulted in my breasts rising higher and then plummeting back to where gravity wanted them to be. I'm pretty sure I saw him choke. "How's it goin'?"

I think Seth was about to go home and fashion a voodoo doll with a very close resemblance to Embry when Paul smacked the ogler in the back of the head. This made a very turned on Embry, judging by his pants, not that I was looking…but really it's not my fault because I swear to the Lord above that sometimes he intended for me to be a slut because of all the stupid things I do, but whatever, it made him stop gawping and he morphed into a human tomato. "He's quite glad to meet you," Paul assured me with an even grin. He knew what I had been doing, and _still_ there was no effect on him. So it was most definite that he had imprinted, and that Jake was a freak.

The other guy, the other one that I was certain had imprinted because he didn't care about my looks either, which vainly hurt me for some stupid reason that even I don't know about, beamed, "I'm Quil."

"Nice ta meet ya," I replied, pumping his offered hand up and down.

Jake hadn't said anything throughout this entire exchange and was still glowering at Paul and Quil, but mainly Paul, in disbelief, as if he had figured out in that moment too that he was, indeed, some sort of freak of nature, even after being a werewolf and all that jazz.

"Well," Paul smirked, wiggling his eyebrows at Seth, "I guess we'll leave you two alone." He winked. "C'mon Jake, lets go down the road a bit, I noticed there's some rabbits and--"

"No," Jake interrupted, shaking his head back and forth.

Paul's eyebrows bunched up, "No? Wha'd'ya mean 'no'?"

"I, uh," he scratched the back of his neck, glancing sheepishly around the room, "I think I should stay with Reece."

"Seth can watch Reece, man," Quil tried to persuade his friend, although it was clear that Quil was confused beyond words as to why on earth Jake would choose me over Peter Cottontail.

A muffled cough from Embry that sounded very much like 'cock blocker' sent Jake into anger mode.

"I am not!" he yelled, completely ruining the subtlety of the effect of the cough, which I thought was done very well. Embry had skills when it came to cough talking, of which I was envious.

Quil, Paul, and Seth all gave Embry this strange look like, 'WTF mate?' And Embry shrugged his shoulders, stole a glance at my legs, upped his eyes to my chest, then rounded on his friends. "It's true," he explained, "Jake doesn't want to leave Reece alone in the presence of Seth. Cock. Blocker."

Paul rolled his eyes at Embry, as if he was a child that had just proposed the Easter Bunny was one of the rabbits down the road. "Embry, Embry, Embry," he said smoothly, wrapping an arm around the shorter guy's shoulders, "Jake here would not cock block, because Jake, my friend, has Nessie, so really, there is no point in Jake doing such a thing of douche baggery, because there's no way he'd be interested in Reece in any way even close to romantical." Is it just me, or are many people pointing this out?…including me I suppose, but I get to. And he used the non-existent word 'romantical'.

Embry looked quite smug as he crossed his arms, "This may be true, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and Jake was all ready to get his groove on before Nessie came, and now he has to wait."

"Are you saying I want to 'get my groove on' with Reece because I'm 'desperate' for some action?" Jake exclaimed, shrieking like a banshee. "Embry you're insane."

Seth pointed a finger in Jake's general direction. "You _were_ looking at her earlier," he accused.

"No!" Jake protested, "I was just…just…admiring the stitching on her shorts!"

Paul and Embry burst into laugher, but Seth was enraged and Quil looked utterly mortified. "Hey," I piped up, "These shorts are very well tailored, thank you very much." I felt it my duty to help Jake out just a little, I mean, he let me stay at his house in order to help my insomnia, I may as well speak up for him, even though I knew he was lying as well, because he was not looking at the stitchery of my clothing. So there.

"But," Quil started, a worried and pensive gleam in his eye, "If, and I'm saying 'if' in a hypothetical way, _if_ Jake was…admiring…Reece's, er, womanly figure, then what does that mean?" He looked around at Paul and Seth, purposely leaving Embry, the outcast due to his inability to imprint, out of his hasty glance, questions flashing around his head no doubt. "Jake _did_ imprint on Nessie. We _know_ that. So…so what now? What's it mean?"

There was silence in the room as the five of them thought deeply, struggling to find an answer.

I raised my hand, willing to offer a theory of my own. Quil glanced up at my arm, "Uh, Reece?"

Lowering my hand to my lap I stated, "Maybe Jake's just a freak."

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**Author's Note:** Well, how was that? Now Reece has met some more awesome characters (oh, who am I kidding, the whole pack is awesome) and Jake is acting weird! O_o But why? And how? Who knows? Oh, that's right...me :D So review and another chapter will magically appear...relatively soon I hope ha ha


	7. Curse You

**Author's Note:** Holy crapper! Another chapter! So soon! I can't actually believe it either!! Anywho, there is one f-bomb in this chapter, just to forewarn everybody...so yeah

**Disclaimer:** Reece...that's all thats mine...along with the plot...but the pack...not mine

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Quil, Seth, and Jacob were not amused by my hypothesis. However, Paul and Embry thought it was genius and were rolling on the floor, clutching at their amazingly defined abs in joyous pain. I have elected them as my new favorites.

Quil sighed; he seemed seriously distressed at the thought that he could possibly ever contemplate a single glance at a woman besides the one he had imprinted upon, whoever she was, probably some hot babe. He rubbed his forehead. "This is serious," he continued in lecture mode. "If Jake is capable of committing such a thing, then what's to say the rest of us aren't." Dear God he was making it sound as if Jake was a criminal for gluing his eyes to my legs a few seconds longer than he should have. But guess what, Quil, that's not a crime, you prude!

"It's not a big deal," I argued, just to play the Devil's advocate.

Quil's eyes bugged so far out of his skull I thought they were going to up and fly away. "_No big deal?!_" He screeched, ripping at the hair residing on his temples. "Reece! When a shape-shifter imprints they are forever bound to that one person. _Forever_." He emphasized like that kid from _the Sandlot_, because I apparently wouldn't have been able to comprehend the permanence of imprinting by the first 'forever'. "And not only that, but we enjoy it, we want it, we need it. We stop noticing people. If a good-looking female crosses our paths we don't see her, we see just another blur as she walks by."

"Good to know I'm a blur to the majority of the people in this room," I grumbled.

"Not to me!" Seth and Embry declared just as Jake was saying "I don't think of you as a blur." This statement resulted in a round of glares and semi-shocked faces. Apparently Jake should have just ducked his head and kept his trap shut.

Quil threw his hands in the air. "We don't mean we see you as a blur," he continued. "It's one thing for Jake to have you as a friend; it is a completely different thing for him to check you out."

"Or cock block," Embry tacked on.

"I wasn't--" Jake tried, but Paul smirked and very confidently remarked: "You were."

Quil nodded. "We don't see you as a blur," he said in a slightly apologetic tone, "But we also shouldn't see you as, well, appealing, even though, I guess you must be attractive; our brains just shouldn't work that way once we've imprinted."

"But I'm free," Embry grinned at me. I raised an eyebrow, and Seth growled deep in his throat.

"Then just write it off as a fluke and be done with it," I offered as a solution. "Don't over analyze it like some psycho therapist or whatever."

Quil stared down at the carpet for a few seconds, thinking over my proposition. "I suppose we could drop it…" Embry and Paul had already moved on to wrestling with each other, but Seth still didn't look too convinced, so I swiftly laid a hand on his knee, paralyzing him with an abundance of joy.

"Let it go," I advised with a smile, then rose from the couch to grab my jeans.

Before closing the door I heard Embry hiss, "Did you _see_ that blur's ass?!"

* * *

I wish my wrist would heal as fast as Embry's was. Apparently while I was putting on some pants, Seth leapt across the room to kill Embry for his vulgarity. Seth had a lot of pent up rage, so Embry was lucky to get out of the scrape with just a broken appendage that would heal unnaturally fast. Curse him and his super speedy healing powers.

Huh, I curse people a lot. Maybe I'm in this predicament due to karma.

Hmm…

Curse you, karma!

So now, Embry is lounging on the couch, nursing his snapped wrist bones back to heath in a matter of minutes, which is totally unfair because I'm going to have to live with this friggin' cast for a few weeks and all he has to do is sit still for a bit while it sets and he's ready to go again. And I suppose that is why he didn't learn his lesson about saying flirty things to me, like, "Hey, Reece, it must be destiny, I mean, it can't just be coincidence that we _both_ broke the same bones."

At that, Seth was about to whoop his ass again because I'm sure he deemed Embry as a former friend, but Jake halted him with a command. He must have used his special leader domination abilities because Seth didn't budge once Jake had spoke. "And stop hitting on Reece, Embry, it's stupid," Jake reprimanded, although, by the cheeky grin I received from Embry, I'm willing to bet Jake hadn't used the same power as he had used when talking to Seth.

Paul was splayed out on the floor, utterly bored out of his thick werewolf skull. "Are we going to go show those rabbits who's boss or what?" he whined, lolling his head to glare up at the pack he wasn't necessarily part of.

"Well, somebody has to stay here with Reece," Jake pointed out to no one in particular, as if volunteering for the task.

Embry shot his injured hand into the air, winced at his idiocy, and then enthusiastically announced, "I will."

Seth yelled, "You will not! If anyone is staying with Reece, it's gonna be _me_."

"How're we to know you won't jump her bones?" Embry accused.

Seth's jaw dropped in rage, "And we're supposed to trust _you_? I would never do anything Reece didn't wish." Oh my God I have a genie!

I stood up from my spot on the couch next to Quil, holding up my hands to attract all of their attention. "What if," I thought, "I just went with you guys." I raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'Brilliant or what?' and waited for their response.

Quil choked on the cereal he was scarfing down in disbelief. Paul barked out a laugh in amusement. Seth and Jake looked at me in horror, because I was apparently too fragile in the mind to see any of them morph into their canine counterparts. And Embry grinned wide, knowing they'd have to strip down in front of me and seemingly was very confident with his man/wolf-hood.

"Oh come _on_," I pleaded. For once it was a nice day. There were scant clouds and it wasn't raining, halleluiah baby Jesus! Therefore, I was fully against being cooped up in Jake's stuffy house with nothing to do but play Halo and Grand Theft Auto or whatever video games the pack possessed.

Jake snorted. "You seriously want to come along while we chase rabbits for fun?" he questioned. Honestly, after he put it that way it sounded really dumb. They must have nothing to do around the reserve these days if they were excited about rounding up the neighborhood bunnies.

I nodded my head, "Sure, why not?"

Jake pursed his lips and looked me over, calculating my grit or something, then shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, fine," he allowed. "But you're going to have to ride on one of our backs," he informed me. Cool! Now I had a herd of horses! "Preferably either Paul or me, since we're the biggest," Jake mused.

"Hey," Seth protested, "I could handle it just fine."

Quil gagged on his Honey Comb. "Seth, you could not handle a grown woman--" at this Paul and Embry burst into perverted chortling, which Quil ignored and continued "--do you remember what happened when for some reason beyond my knowledge I let Claire ride your back?"

Seth blushed furiously while he remembered whatever had happened, "That was a while ago."

Quil rolled his eyes, "It was last weekend Seth, and you thought it would be 'fun' to run around the woods, but then Claire got whipped by a gigantic tree branch--"

"I said I was sorry!" Seth insisted, looking at me in an attempt to convince me of his repentance, except that I honestly didn't care that Claire, whoever the hell _that_ was, got clothes-lined by some rogue tree.

"How about," I decided to put my two cents in again, "I drive one of those nifty bikes Jake's got outside?"

There was a flood of "NOOOOOOOOO"s from Jake, Seth, and Quil, because Paul had fallen victim to a boredom coma and Embry went along with whatever I desired, so he remained quiet. Together the trio explained that with my wrist being damaged there was no way on God's green earth that I would be allowed on any of Jake's motorized vehicles. Of which Embry, Paul, and I tried to hide our little smiles at the mention of me 'riding Jake's motorized vehicle'. Hey, without the gutter, I'm pretty sure our three minds would be homeless.

"Fine," I crossed my arms. "Then I guess I choose…" Jake, Seth, and Embry all waited in vain for my decision, certain that our lives all hung in the balance. "…Quil."

Honey Comb spewed out across Jake's front room, landing soggily on Paul's face. "What the fuck?" Paul sat up in surprise, shocked that cereal was raining down from Jake's ceiling.

Quil was still coughing up his breakfast, "What?!" Clearly he was not happy with my decision.

"You're the only one that doesn't care," I pointed out.

"Yes I care," he asserted. "I mean…I don't mind…but I don't…couldn't you have chosen one of _them_?" He gestured at everyone else.

"Why?" I asked annoyingly.

"Because…because," Quil sputtered, "Well…because…_Claire_…"

HA HA HA! I understood. "Dude, I'm not like, interested in you, because Embry and Seth and Paul and even Jake are hotter than you, so it's not like you'd be cheating on Claire…but I guess I can choose someone else if she's going to come after you with a club when you see her next."

"Or a wooden alphabet block," Embry chuckled.

A wooden alphabet block? What? I furrowed my eyebrows, "Huh?"

Embry bit his tongue, squeezing his eyes shut in silent laughter. Quil glared angrily at him, "Shut _up_ Embry, I love Claire, no matter how old she is."

"Ohhh," I sighed in understanding, "Claire's like, a toddler, like Nessie."

"Who _I_ love," Jake urged, eagerly trying to remove himself from the hole he had created for himself.

Embry smirked, "Don't forget your love for Reece as well." So much for getting out of that hole.

It was Jake's turn to attack now, and he shoved Embry into the carpet. Quil tried to dislocate the two from one another while Paul roared in amusement, completely out of his coma. Seth remained where he was, grinning wickedly that Jake was now doing what he had been forbade to do. "Guys!" I yelled, feeling very much like Bella on that first day we met when Jake and Edward had started their little spat. "Guys! Fine, I choose Paul! Happy now?" I spun around to stare the wolf down. "You don't mind right?" Although clearly I meant, 'You have no choice so shut up and deal'.

Paul nodded, not even taking notice of my threatening stance or glare, which made me unhappy because I had spent forever in front of the mirror perfecting it, even throwing in little sayings like, 'What're you lookin' at? _Punk!_' and, 'You talkin' ta me?'.

And so it was settled, Paul would ferry me about while they chased bunnies, after I had closed my eyes (as requested by the majority) while they transmutated into their doggy forms. Guess which wolf didn't care, I'll give you a hint: his name starts with the letter E(mbry). Together, with the agreements all taken care of, we headed cheerily off into the sunset, even though it was nine in the morning, and headed towards our grand adventure.

* * *

The thing is, when someone says, 'down the road', you'd imagine a nice paved road just down the street from where you are. Because 'down the road' does not mean a horrendous amount of miles into the woods. But apparently in Paul's world that is exactly what 'down the road' means. So, as I cling for dear life to the dark gray fur that is now Paul's back while he sprints through the underbrush making a creepy chuckling noise, I make a promise to myself: NEVER AGAIN will I suggest or agree to accompany the wolf pack, or any wolves for that matter, 'down the road' to 'show those rabbits who's boss'. Which honestly doesn't make any sense because those rabbits are innocent, white, poofy bystanders falling victim to adolescent puppies with nothing better to do.

At one point I caught Seth sneak attack Embry. Unfortunately Embry is bigger, and most likely a tad bit stronger than Sethkins, and won the battle. And even more sad is the fact that I'm more attracted to Embry than to Seth. And I really can't believe I just thought that. I must learn to curb my attraction for other people now that I'm a taken woman…against my will, but still. I feel it is my duty to at least _attempt_ to stay true to Seth somehow; and then, at the exact moment of the birth of the previous thought, I got smacked across the face by a random twig and I took it as a sign that my monogamy to Seth is a bad idea, because really, I never agreed to anything.

But then I feel guilty again and my brain wants to explode and I end up just laying my head down on Paul's soft fur, wishing that stupid vampire chick had just killed me so I wouldn't have to deal with my hypocritical and masochistic thought process.

Curse my mind.

* * *

**Author's Note:** More pack madness ensues! Because I adore the whole pack. :D Reviews are greatly greatly appreciated! Honestly, they really do make my day! So thank you all so much!


	8. Bond, James Bond

**Author's Note:** So, this chapter is a little iffy, but oh well, here it is! Thanks for the reviews!

**Disclaimer:** Reece, Basel/Baz, Dr. Gardner, Patsy, and Reece's parents are mine

* * *

By the time we all got back, Billy was screaming about some hysterical lady that continued to call the Clearwater's and harass Leah about my whereabouts. Oh. Right. Yeah. That'd be my mother.

Leah ran to the door when she saw the six of us approaching, and I'm fairly certain if looks could kill, I'd be dead. Ever-loving Seth must have sensed this as well because he stepped protectively between us like some suit-wearing body guard.

_Oh my word!_ my brain exclaimed, enraptured, _Just_ think_ of Seth in a suit!_ Ya know how guys are suddenly like ten times hotter, even if they're already super mega ultra hot to begin with, once they don a suit? Yeah, pretty much almost jumped Seth's bones on the front porch imagining him in a James Bond-ish way. I shook my head to clear out my dirty thoughts, which were now spreading to picture the other members of the pack in suits as well, and peered around Seth to raise my eyebrows in question at his sister.

She glared down, launching into her story about how, even though she had assured my mother I'd call her back when I was available, she continued to call non-stop anyway. Yeah. As I said before. That's my mother.

I hustled over to the phone lickety split, followed by my entourage of werewolves, and dialed my home digits.

"REECE?!" the woman was so loud that not only I flinched, but so did every other resident in La Push.

"Ow." I replied, deadpan.

"OH! IS THAT YOU, HONEY?"

"Good God mother. Stop shouting into the phone, I'm going deaf over here," I answered.

"It must be you," she concluded, "I'd recognize that tone anywhere. Now, honey, when are you coming home?"

In an awkward unison that resulted in many glares and odd facial expressions, Jake and Seth both whispered, "You can stay another night."

I nodded, acknowledging their invitation. "Um, actually mom, I was thinking I'd stay over again…"

"What?" My mother asked, heart broken that I didn't want to return to her nest. "Well, honey," she forged on in as even a voice as she could muster, "I suppose that would be okay, I'm glad you're making a friend…but I'd really like you to come to Dr. Gardner's."

Ugh. Dr. Gardner. Ever since we were shipped up here my mother insisted on having family therapy sessions to better improve our lives, and ever since I found out my mother had employed a shrink, I bought a book on disorders and 'developed' a new one every Saturday afternoon for Dr. Gardner to diagnose me with. "Can't I just skip today mom?"

"No missy," she scolded, "Dr. Gardner wants to check up on your insomnia." Ah, my insomnia, the only disorder I actually possessed.

"That's cured," I assured her, glancing around at my supernatural sleeping pills.

"Well then he'll want to see how you're dealing with your schizophrenia."

"Ya know mom, I think that might have been a false alarm."

"Oh, well what about your post traumatic stress disorder?"

Coincidentally, I probably could have that, considering nearly being drained of all the blood in my body by a psycho vampire in the woods was very scarring. But, alas, I didn't. "Mom, it's under control."

I could practically see her shaking her head in determination. "Well, honey, if you're to stay another night, then I want you to at least come to the session. Daddy can drop you back off later."

A look of pure agony spread across my face. Stupid shrink. "Fine."

"Oh goodie! Then I'll see you soon. And next time, answer the phone. I had to talk to that grouchy friend of yours eight times."

I rolled my eyes. "Then stop calling. Bye!" and I hung up before she could say anything more.

* * *

"Who's that boy?" my dad inquired suspiciously when I arrived home, "I thought you were staying with a girl named Leah."

"I was, dad, but she doesn't have a car," I explained. Dad closed the door and approached the front room's window, watching as Jake drove off. "It's just Jake, dad; he's a friend from school that lives by the Clearwater's."

"Humph," my dad grunted, before being interrupted by the wonderfully cheerful voice that only one crazily annoying woman in the world could possibly possess.

"Oh, honey, you're home!" my mother cried, smiling wide, her bright orange lipstick smearing across her front teeth. Yes, my mother wore orange lipstick. It's the new pink, duh. "Phew," she scrunched up her nose, covering her mouth with an over-blinged hand. My mom loved jewelry, especially gaudy rings and bangles. "Why on earth do you smell like dog?"

I lifted my arm and smelled the sleeve of my sweatshirt. I didn't think it was that bad. "Jake's got a dog." I winced as soon as those words flew out of my mouth and into the room.

"_Jake_?" my mother squeaked. "Who is _Jake_?"

I sighed dramatically loud. "He's a friend from school that lives by Leah and drove me home 'cause Leah has no car. Dad and I have already discussed this."

My father confirmed my statement with a well place, "Humph."

Mom pursed her lips, scanning me over, surely trying to find my lie. Then again, she bought every single disorder that I acted out, so I was positive she wouldn't catch the 'oh, well, all the people I met today are werewolves' truth that was behind my story. "Well, stay away from that Jake's house then," she ordered, sneezing delicately. How someone sneezes delicately is beyond me, but my mother has it mastered. "I don't want to continually sneeze every time you come home from visiting La Push." Fat chance mom, fat chance.

"Whatever," I mumbled, glaring at the stairs, willing Basel, my lunatic, nerdy brother, to frolic down the stairs and interrupt this moment. He didn't, so, for my sake, I screamed, "Baz!"

"Honestly, honey, can't you call him by 'Basel', I hate that you shorten such a respectable name," my mother huffed. She just did not understand that such a respectable name made him even more of a geek.

"BAZ!" I yelled once again, firstly to annoy my mother, secondly to actually get the kid moving. "Time for therapy!"

The car ride consisted of Baz reciting all the numbers of pi. At least, as many as he could fit into the drive. I think my brain died after the first fifty, because I didn't even realize we were at Dr. Gardner's until Baz poked me in the eye. The eye! Curse him.

I slumped down into my usual white puffy chair that I always occupied during these group therapy sessions. See, for family therapy, we're all supposed to sit happily together on a couch, but I told Dr. Gardner that it made me uncomfortable that I didn't have a choice in the matter and that that sort of pressure could inevitably push me over the brink and into permanent insanity. So he had a separate chair next to the couch just for me. Aren't I lucky?

From my miniature throne I could see outside from a window that spanned the entire wall, if I looked to my left, I'd see my family, and to my right, I'd spy Dr. Gardner; so obviously I usually zoned out the window, wishing I could just fly away from the madness that is my psychotic family. But today, something unusual occurred outside my sacred window. Today, two large dogs were sitting out there, enjoying the shade that the tree in front of the building provided. One of them winked. And I knew, I just _knew_ that that one was Embry. My jaw dropped in surprise at their presence. I mean, the Cullen's had said they were going to watch me for a little bit, but it had been a week; if any vampires wanted their revenge, you'd think they'd have taken it by now.

Dr. Gardner, noticing my facial slack asked me what was the matter. Slowly I turned my head to answer. "Sorry," I apologized, "I've just never seen those dogs before…in town."

Dr. Gardner quirked an eyebrow. "What dogs?"

I pointed straight ahead. "Those--" But my Quileute friends had disappeared and I was left looking like a moron in front of a psychologist. Never a good thing. Unless you _want_ to be locked up in a padded cell with a straight jacket wrapped snuggly around you.

"What is with you and dogs today?" my mom started pestering me. "She's been talking about dogs all day. She came home from a friend's house and smelt like one, too."

I widened my eyes at her. "Mom, I didn't say one thing about dogs. _You_ were the one who said I stunk and then banished me from the house if I ever came home with such a vulgar stench again."

"So let me get this straight," Dr. Gardner interrupted, furiously scribbling, or doodling I had also thought possible, on his yellow pad of paper. "Reece, you've got friends now?"

"Humph," my dad contributed to the conversation, no doubt thinking of Jacob and how he didn't want any male coming in contact with his daughter. Ever.

My mom batted her eyelashes and spun to answer Gardner. "Yes," she informed him, "Reece stayed at a friends house over in La Push last night."

"Well, no wonder she smells like dog," Gardner looked at my mother as if she was a silly twit, which she is, but she's not used to receiving such a look from anyone but me, "The entire area surrounding La Push has a wet dog odor."

"Humph," my dad agreed.

"How odd," my mother stroked her chin, probably trying to decide whether to allow me to keep my friends or to demand I try to make new ones, which would happen no time fast.

I sneaked a peek at Baz, who had brought along a notepad of his own and was hurriedly taking notes. He had informed me a year ago that he wished to write a memoir about his life in order to inspire other genius kids that were also stuck in families like his. When I asked him to define our family, he merely shrugged his shoulders, stared intently at the floor and replied, "Oh, you know."

And all the while that my mom and Dr. Gardner were discussing dogs, my dad 'humph'ing when necessary and my brother taking down interesting tidbits for his future readers, my eyes wandered back outside to where the two dogs, werewolves, I was certain, had been lounging in the damp grass. I had recognized the one that winked. But the other one, he was a mystery to me. Not that it mattered. If there were wolves I hadn't met, I was sure I would. I mean, I was basically engaged to Seth. Which, thinking back to him in a suit, wasn't so bad. So I was beginning to wonder why it had been Embry and Unknown Wolf that were watching me instead of Seth or Jacob when Dr. Gardner rudely interrupted my thought process.

"Reece?"

My head snapped up, "Huh?"

My whole family was staring at me, awaiting my answer to a question I hadn't realized had been asked. Dr. Gardner furrowed his eyebrows, leaning over his notepad and muttering, "Dazed expression…lack of interest…attention span almost non-existent…" Oh shit. He was diagnosing me for something I didn't have and also hadn't been pretending to have. "Now, Reece, I want you to answer my question truthfully. We won't judge you, and you won't get into any trouble," the doctor assured. By now I was thoroughly confused. I had read my disorders book back and to front and I couldn't think of a single disorder besides ADD that could have my 'symptoms'. But then why would he tell me I wouldn't get into any trouble for admitting I had it? Dr. Gardner's face turned somber as he looked at me intensely, leaning forward slightly. "Did you…experiment at all lately, with any substance?"

Huh? And then I remembered that my eyebrows still hadn't fully grown back from the experiment in chemistry and I chuckled, "Oh yeah, for a couple of days."

My mom nearly fainted and my dad angrily turned red and said, "Humph!"

"Now, now," Dr. Gardner interjected, "Let's all try to stay calm here."

I raised one of my half-grown eyebrows, "What's the big deal. Everyone was--"

"That's no excuse!" My mother shrieked, now fully attentive.

"Okay, so I made a few mistakes while experimenting, but I'm sure that next time I try I'll be able to do it correctly."

"_IT?!_" My mother wailed.

"Humph," my dad grumbled.

"And how much did you take today?" Dr. Gardner asked with concern.

"Take?" What were these people on? "Take what?"

Dr. Gardner sighed. "Weed, pot, grass…"

"Excuse me?" I yelled. He was talking about _that_ kind of experimentation?! I swear this family is worse off _with_ therapy. "No, I've never done any of that. I was talking about a chemistry experiment--"

"So you _did_ do _it_? Oh, goodness, it was that _Jake_ boy, wasn't it?" My mother looked as if she was about to have a heart attack, she was clutching at her chest, and if she wasn't careful I'm pretty sure here long long fingernails were going to impale her soon. And I really did not like how she had spit out Jake's name, as if he were some sort of venereal disease.

"No, mom," I said flatly, tired of this conversation, "Chemistry, as in the class, with the molecules and shit."

"Humph," my dad scolded me for my language as Baz dejectedly crossed off nearly an entire page of writing. Apparently he wanted me to be some crack whore to make his memoir more appealing to his readers.

"Oh," my mother finally breathed again, "Oh, okay then…"

Since when did family therapy turn into gang up on Reece time? As I was about to suggest we concentrate on Baz, who was at a more impressionable time in his life, I remembered one of Dr. Gardner's golden rules. If any of the participants in a session began to feel as if they were unable to cooperate for any given reason they were allowed to leave the room. Thank the freaking Lord. So on the pretense of insanity I dismissed myself, much to my mother's horror and embarrassment, and went to sit in the lobby and wait for the next fifteen minutes until the shrink was done. I really didn't understand the whole point of therapists. All you do is talk. Why didn't my mom just buy herself a volleyball like the guy in _Castaway_ and save herself the time and money? She could draw a cute little face on it and name it Wilson and have interesting tea parties in which they can discuss whether orange really _is_ the new pink and other really important topics like that. And Wilson would never interrupt her, would always listen, and would be much less prone to use any sort of tone with her because he wouldn't possess vocal chords. But whatever, my mom preferred Dr. Gardner to a volleyball named Wilson. Personally, I would choose the volleyball.

* * *

Seth was sitting impatiently on the front steps of the Clearwater house. I could see him as soon as the house came into view. He was just so tall, even folded up to fit on the stairs. My dad began to slow down once he realized that the house we were heading for was the same one that Seth was now perched on, waiting for my return. And that sounded really corny, yet romantic. "Who's that boy?" he asked, coming to a halt two houses away. "I thought you were staying with a girl named Leah."

De ja vu. Only now I'm the one in the car.

"Dad, that's Seth, Leah's brother, therefore, he lives in the same house, so just chill," I comforted him.

"Humph," my dad said, putting the car back into drive and going the half block left to Seth's humble abode.

As soon as I stepped from the vehicle Seth jumped up, joy spreading across the features of his face, as if it was the first time he had seen the sun in...forever. He didn't even notice the way my dad was mentally stabbing him with a pitch fork, for which I gave Seth props. Most guys ran as far away as possible when they saw my dad, and those weren't even the ones interested in me, because, quite frankly, guys just weren't that interested in me. "Hey!" he greeted with a grin, wrapping me up in his impossibly warm arms. This time I returned the embrace, if only because I was so ecstatic to get away from my family and the probing Dr. Gardner.

"Humph," my dad said in farewell as he drove away, glaring in the review mirror the entire time until he nearly hit someone's mailbox and had to dangerously swerve to avoid the accident.

I dislodged myself from Seth. "Well, I'm back," I smiled, "So we should probably head over to Jake's house, he's probably wondering where I am."

Seth nodded, if not a little depressed at the fact that he couldn't have me completely to himself, so, out of simpathy for him, and I guess because I really wanted to feel up his bicep, I grabbed his arm and dragged him along to the Black's.

Paul was there when we entered the front room, mercilessly beating Jake in some video game I had never heard of before. "WOO!" he screamed, causing Billy to come wheeling into the room like a madman and shush him. "Sorry Billy!" Paul waved, never taking his eyes from the glow of the TV screen. What was it with guys and video games? Seth was having a hard time deciding whether to stare at me, or at the epic battle taking place in the Xbox...or whatever gaming console they had, so I plopped down on the couch and he followed suit. Mmm...suit...

And that is how I spent the next few hours. Only I fell asleep so thank Budda it didn't feel that long, because the next thing I knew, Seth was carrying me, wedding style, into Jake's room and laying me in my sleeping bag as if I were a china doll. He carefully tucked me in and kissed my forehead, unknowing that I was awake. This little gesture caused a smile to grace my lips that neither Seth nor Jake caught, for which I'm grateful because I am usually not one to be won over with things like that. And then I dozed off.

And, of course, with my luck, had this awful nightmare where Embry, Jake, and Seth were all begging on their hands and knees for my hand in marriage and I replied with, "No my gentlemen lovers, I cannot accept any of your glorious and outlandish offers, because my heart already belongs to another." At this I dramatically threw my head to the side where Wison, the volleyball, was waiting in a tie at an alter, and I got married to a peice of athletic equipment. I don't even play sports for God's sake!

I sat as still as a statue after waking up from that. Jake's room was dark except for the very cliche moon beams streaming in from the window. Jake snored and rolled over. I needed a breather, some fresh air. I crawled clumsily over to the window, which was open for some reason beyond my level of thought to compute, and climbed...or fell, let's not get into details...out and into the yard. And I very nearly into cardiac arrest right there in the grass when I heard from behind me:

"Hey, Blur." I spun around like a hopped up ballerina to stare at the figure of an insanely tall and lanky person.

Seth was leaning casually against the Black's siding, as if it was normal for him to creep around at night, peeping in at Jacob. "Hey, Bond," I replied sarcastically.

"Bond? As in, James Bond?" he asked, amused, and probably slightly flattered, considering James Bond kicked some major ass. And how cool would it be if James Bond were also a werewolf? Because then he'd be even _more_ unstoppable than he already is.

I raised an eyebrow. "You were spying on me, weren't you?"

Seth blushed furiously, chuckling quietly, "Yeah, I guess I sort of was."

"Well there you have it," I continued, nodding my head, "All you need is a suit and you'd be set." Good God, the stunningly gorgeous image of Seth in a suit was popping into my head A LOT that day. I wonder if there is a disorder like that...oh, wait, it's called nymphomania.

"Well, I'd have to challenge you on that," he argued with a barely concealed smirk as he cocked his head charmingly to the side. "It seems to me as if Bond tends to lose the the suit pretty quickly after meeting a pretty lady."

It was my turn to blush I guess, because I did. "Oh," I barely squeaked out, "I, er, guess you're right."

Seth bit his lip, stepping a little closer. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

If only he knew it was the image of Seth _without_ a suit that made me uncomfortable, and not him exactly. And my psycho body was all 'YEAH! GO FOR IT!' and my brain was all 'DO IT!' but that one part of my mind that was still functioning properly said, 'Well, you know you want to, but you know you're not ready, so just wait. Cause he'll be here when you truly are ready'. Which was true. But before I could actually say any of this, Seth's hand was stroking the side of my face, I was looking up into his tender dark eyes, and he leaned in, awkward and cautiously, to kiss me.

And holy shit there were fireworks.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Seth is THE man. That's all I have to say. :D


	9. Indecision of the Cranial Kind

**Author's Note:** Really short chapter, slightly a filler...Anywho, thanks so much to all the wonderful reviews! You all make me smile so much! I'm really glad you enjoy this fic, because so far I'm really into it and I hope I don't disappoint! Except for the fact that this chapter is short, but it leads up to stuff, so deal :P ha ha

Also, I finally got a 'Homepage' set up on my author page. It's just the link to my LJ site that I just started for my fanfiction. If you're bored, feel free to check it out. The most recent entry has to do with this story anyway! It's how I was originally going to end Chapter 8, so if you're curious, go ahead and read it, it's only like a paragraph long, and make sure to leave a comment. It's not edited so it's not exactly what I would have put up in the last chapter, but you can see where I was maybe going to decide to take the story...also, another f-bomb lies ahead, Sorry if you're offended! I try to keep it to a minimum!!

Anyway! On with the story!

**Disclaimer:** Reece is mine :D

* * *

Seth pulled away slowly from my face, a small smile gracing his soft lips. Oh my God this boy has made me into a cheesy romantic. Anyway, besides being turned into a cheesy romantic, I also morphed into a total ditz. It's not my fault, my brain was foggy with…I don't even know how to describe it but it was an awesome feeling. And so, naturally, I stupidly mumbled "thanks" (honestly, who says 'thanks' after they've just been kissed by their future one-and-only?), and spun just in time to promptly run right into the wall of Jake's house. God I am such an idiot.

Seth actually laughed. I guess even though he mentally worshipped the ground I walked on, he was still entitled to cackle his little werewolf ass off at my clumsiness after being so flustered by the feel of his full lips on mine. Dick. Oh dear Lord…wrong choice of word to use at this point in time. I needed to reign in my mind and prohibit it from entering the gutter so often. I will now substitute the insult 'dick' with 'damn you'. Damn you, Seth Clearwater! And your dick!

There, much better.

"You're so beautiful when you blush," he murmured, turning pink himself, as I furiously attempted to cover my face. I don't think I had ever blushed so hard in my entire life. And that includes the time that I was completely out of it one day in second grade while we were all putting our snow pants on to go outside for recess, and for some reason that I can't explain, my brain thought I was at home getting ready for bed. Yeah, I know, what the fuck? Maybe I was tired, who knows, but that still doesn't make up for the fact that I pulled my pants, no, not the snow kind, down to my ankles before I realized what I was doing. I was mortified and I _still _had more dignity at that moment in my life than I did now, with Seth standing so tantalizingly close.

"Well," I gulped, nervous for the first time in, like, ever, "I better be going…"

Seth's face fell, obviously unhappy at the thought of me leaving. "Sorry…I just--"

I smirked and he stopped in the middle of an unnecessary apology. "_That's_ not why I should go." I couldn't bring myself to say 'your kiss' yet, it was all so…unreal…so I used the very improper word 'that' for such a magnificent thing. "I just…I mean, what time is it?"

Seth chuckled, "I don't know. I lose track of it when I'm around you. It doesn't seem to matter anymore."

Wanna know the best thing about that statement? It was honest because Seth couldn't bear to tell me lies. Mwa ha ha ha!

"But," he began again, scratching the back of his neck in an adorable way, "I guess you're right, it's gotta be pretty late."

"I'll come visit you tomorrow when I wake up," popped out of my mouth before I could stop it; I really don't even know where it came from, but there it was.

Seth's grin grew amazingly wide, "Sweet, I guess I'll see ya then." And he leaned in for one more quick peck that left me light-headed.

* * *

I swear. Jake may be a werewolf, with ultra hearing senses or whatever, but he's like a rock once he's asleep. Seriously, you could to anything to/around the boy, and he'd just lay there snoring.

I proved this by inadvertently knocking over a lamp when Seth shoved me gently through the window. My balance betrayed me, so, in trying to regain my footing, I reached out and snagged on the cord. It fell off the night table and rolled beneath Jake's bed. "Oh, shit," I sighed, knowing I'd have to excavate it.

Have you ever tried to find something beneath a pile of dirty clothes and dusty Playboys and some moldy mystery food? Yeah, it's not fun unless they're _your_ miscellaneous articles you're digging through. Not that I had any Playboys, but I did have a fair few Cosmopolitans. A girl's gotta know what a girl's gotta know. I held my breath, not sure how a werewolf could stand the stench of their own filth. I thought they possessed good noses but I must have been majorly mistaken because Jesus Christ it smelt like a frickin' horse had shat beneath Jake's bed.

But as I was up to my shoulders in Jake's crap, scruntched under his bed, Jake rolled sleepily over, causing his hand to drape over the side of his slumber space. And guess where it landed.

On my butt.

And it stayed there, and I froze, because I didn't really know what to do. What does one do in such a situation? Has anyone even _been_ in such a situation? But the worst part of the entire ordeal was that I kind of didn't mind all that much. And that made me feel way guilty considering I had just been kissed, twice, by one of the most amazing guys I'd ever met in the entirety of my nearly eighteen years on this earth. I mean, what kind of girl kisses a guy that is chosen for her by fate, and then kind of enjoys it when said guy's role model accidentally rests his hand on her buttocks? The answer: me, an idiotic, stupid girl who's mind couldn't make itself up.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Seth, I really did, and I wanted to like him as much as I possibly could and all that, but there was that piece of my brain that still clung to this impossible and desperate hope that Jake and I still stood a chance, which as I mentioned before, was impossible, because he was meant for Nessie and I was meant for Seth. Or so fate said.

But what did _I _say? Why did I have to be forced into this commitment? I wasn't even Native American, a was a Polish person for goodness sake! Not that I had ever _been_ to Poland, but that wasn't the point. The point was, that I didn't share the same folklore…not that I _knew_ any Polish folklore there was, so maybe there actually were some similar stories about wolf thingers, but that wasn't the point either. The point was that I shouldn't be forced to like Seth, just because of some ancient tale. And yet I felt an affinity toward him. (Well duh Reece, there was a freaking fire on your face when he kissed you). But, oh, the dreaded but, I also felt something for Jake.

God, I just wish my brain would understand that I was meant to be with Seth and deal with it. I mean, what was so special about Jake anyway? I mean sure, he was tall, and had these brooding eyes, and super toned abs, and he was protecting me from fatal vampire attacks…but Seth had those attributes, too. So why, oh why, was my mind stuck on Jake?

Note to self: Reece, you are still frozen under Jake's bed, grab the lamp and get out you twit!

* * *

It didn't help my hang up on Jacob the next morning when I woke up to see him scrounging through his drawers for a pair of shorts. Now, you ask why this didn't help my undecided brain; well, he happened to be only wrapped in a towel and dripping. "What--?" I groggily got out before he jumped in surprise and twirled around to face me wrapped snuggly in my sleeping bag behind him.

"Oh," he said rather nonchalantly, "I didn't realize you were awake."

Well. I am. So would you kindly remove your sickeningly hot, wet body from my eye sight before my head explodes from indecision?

Instead of my silent request being obeyed, Jake went back to searching for a pair of pants to slip into. I think he may have been doing it on purpose. So I decided to remove myself from the confines of my sleeping bag and noisily stretch behind him. Two could play at this game, and I figured he'd feel more tortured since he had already imprinted and was a freak for continuing to find me attractive.

Jake tried his darndest not to take a peek at me, but I guess the short shorts and tank top won him over because he inched around to bite the bullet. I was still stretching on my tippy toes when he bolted out of the room without any clothes to put on. I could hear the bathroom door slam and then Billy yelling, "Hey! I was _using_ that!"

I strode out of Jake's room, fairly proud of myself for one-upping Jake, and met Billy in the hallway. "Oh Reece, morning. How'd you sleep?" There was a curious gleam to the old man's eye, as if he knew something interesting.

"Oh, you know. Good," I replied vaguely.

Billy nodded, "Mmhmm." I was about to continue on to the kitchen, but he stopped me with, "You know, Jake may be dead to the world when he sleeps, but I'm a bit more wary." I turned to stare at the wily guy, trying to catch on to exactly what he meant. "Now," he continued, "if you don't mind pushing me next door so I can ask to use _their_ facilities since Jacob is doing who knows what in our restroom, I'd be quite happy to keep your nighttime encounter between us, as a secret." Oh, so that _was_ what he was talking about. He smiled kindly in that sort of old person way. Damn him for being such a light sleeper. But Billy didn't seem like he was using my midnight run in with Seth as blackmail, instead, I think he was just letting me know that he knew…and he really needed to take a piss and didn't feel like wheeling himself next door so early in the morning without help.

So I wheeled him next door where he could take a dump peacefully and by the time we got back, Jake was still locked up in the bathroom like a total recluse from the world. Except I figured if you planned on being a hermit, you would plot out a much better place to stay isolated from people. I, for one, would not wish to spend the rest of my life with a toilet, but hey, that was Jake's choice. If he liked porcelain thrones, then so be it.

Billy went about his usual routine in the morning, then sat in front of the TV, waiting for Charlie Swan to come and pick him up. Apparently there was an immensely exciting football game on the tube that they just _had_ to see.

So I made my way back to Jake's room, thinking I'd change and just chill there until Jake decided _not_ to be a loner. This plan didn't pan out however, because as I strolled past aforementioned bathroom, a strong hand swept out and lugged me into the tiny area that smelled of shampoo. The door was fastened back in place and I found myself pushed up against the door because the space was so cramped. Jake was standing there, still in his stupid towel, staring at me with wide, worried eyes, panting. I raised an unsympathetic eyebrow at him and he breathed out:

"I need help."

Well, I thought, no surprise there.

* * *

**Author's Note:** That snow pants story actually _did_ happen. I have no idea what my second grade mind was thinking...oh, wait, it probably _wasn't_ thinking...anyway, leave a review! We'll see what Jake needs help with next chapter! :) And then Reece will visit Seth and whatnot, and then it's back to school for Jake and Reece! Joy. Ha ha


	10. Loner In the Bathroom

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been such an embarrassingly long time since I updated, school has just been overwhelming my time :( As Reece would say: Damn you, college! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this super short excuse of a chapter, I just felt I owed it to you guys to get a chapter up, so here it is!

**Disclaimer:** Reece is mine

* * *

"What's your problem?" I asked, slightly irritated. I had a thing about cramped spaces. I didn't like them.

"I need to talk to Carlisle," Jake replied hastily, glancing around. I don't see why he glanced around; there was nothing to see except the mirror and the shower and the toilet, which Billy hadn't had a chance to flush when he was rushed out. And Jake's abs, which were still exposed because he still only had a towel wrapped modestly over his hinter regions.

"Then why are you talking to me? Do I _look_ like Carlisle to you? Because I can assure you, I have a heartbeat, not to mention a bust," I retaliated with vigor. And yes, it was rude and uncalled for, but it was morning, and I'm not a morning person either.

Jake looked at me as if I were an idiot. "Well clearly," he said, gesturing to my boobs lewdly. Okay, maybe not lewdly, but it justifies my bitterness if someone is being lewd. And Jake just wasn't a lewd guy. So I added it in for my own gain. So sue me. "I need you to come with me to see Carlisle," Jake continued, not knowing my train of thought had already moved on.

I crossed my arms, cocking my head to the side curiously. "Why do you need me?" I didn't know if I liked where this was going, primarily because I had no idea exactly where this _was_ going.

Jake gulped. "It would just be easier."

I snorted. "For who? Because I have homework." Which was a lame excuse, considering I didn't _do_ homework.

Apparently Jake knew this and burst into laughter that I'm sure shook some part of the house down. "You don't _do _homework." I think that had already been established.

"Well can I at least bring Seth?" I asked. If Jake was going to have his gang of friends, why couldn't I bring one of my own.

Jake shifted uncomfortably at my question, scratching the back of his neck. "Erm, I don't think that would be such a good idea."

"Why not?" I snapped. I was not in the mood for Jake's vague opinion on whether or not it was okay to bring my future boyfriend-husband-whatever somewhere.

Jake licked his lips, "Because we'll be talking about you and me."

I swear my face just melted and fell to the floor in shock. "There is no you and me," I clarified for the obviously torn werewolf in front of me. But my voice was shaky and I didn't even convince myself.

Curse my raging teenage hormones and the chaos they create!

Jake let it go, thank Buddha, and reached around me, intruding on my bubble, to open the door, nudging me back to his room.

"What're you two doing?" Billy hollered from the front room.

"Nothing," we both yelled at the same time. I glared at Jake, and he grinned right back. "'Scuse me," he murmured, pushing past me and into his room where he closed the door, leaving me to wait outside by myself like some sort of rejected leper.

Billy wheeled his way up to me, eyeing me with joking suspicion. "Where's Jake?"

"Taking his sweet time getting ready," I grimaced; I was, after all, still in my pajamas.

Billy slipped past me and banged with his fist on the door. "Let the girl in Jacob!" I was finding Billy more and more likable as time went on.

There was a knock at the front door, then a creak as whoever was there came in. "Hello?" yelled a voice.

Billy smiled knowingly up at me and said, "Your call." He was clearly referring to the fact that I was in short shorts and a tank top, and that my future something had just arrived.

"I'll take my chances," I smirked, walking nimbly past Billy and towards the front entry where Seth was looking lost. "Hey," I smirked some more when he turned to see me and his eyes bugged out farther than those weird lemur's eyes do in Madagascar.

"Hey, Reece," he croaked. Man, I was such a tease. But I doubt Seth would complain, considering the way his eyes were looking me up and down.

"Eyes up here," I said jokingly, pointing to my face.

Seth gulped and burned red from embarrassment. "Sorry," he whispered in apology and I felt so bad that I reached out and hugged him to make him feel more comfortable, which is not something I do. So Seth definitely meant something to me, even if I didn't consciously know.

"Don't be sorry," I soothed uncharacteristically, looking up into his big puppy eyes. "I thought I said I'd meet you at your house today."

He blushed cutely (oh my God he _is_ turning me into mush) and said, "I couldn't wait any longer."

Aw! My own personal werewolf lover is so sweet!

"'Kay Reece, you can go change now--Seth?"

Jake _would_ interrupt Seth and my together time. Not that I minded Jake being there, I just didn't like Jake being there while Seth was there because then my mind flip-flopped between the two like a frog on cocaine leaping from one lily pad to the next. I raised an eyebrow at Jake because he was raising his eyebrow at me, charging me guilty for allowing Seth into the house when he had explicitly told me it would be a poor decision to let Seth tag along on our journey today. "Sup Jake?" Seth asked with a hint of annoyance. Clearly Seth was becoming more territorial of me as the minutes ticked by; sadly, so was Jake.

"Just gettin' ready to make a trip to the Cullen's," Jake informed the younger boy. "What are _you_ doing today?" His tone made it obvious that what Jake was really saying was: Reece and I are traversing to the bloodsuckers glass palace and _you _are not invited, neener neener! Only without the neenering. And because Jake had some weird superior leader wolf powers, he won.

Seth glanced down at me and I shrugged my shoulders, letting him know I had no idea why Jake felt the need to be such a control freak about this situation I had landed myself in. It's incredible how fast you can go from having no friends to having a werewolf pack ready to fight to the death for you…at least two people of the pack anyway, three if you include Embry the nymphomaniac.

Seth scowled for about a nanosecond before mumbling, "See ya" in Jake's direction, then turned to me and grinned goofily. I smirked up at him questioningly and he lowered his head to kiss me on the cheek. I blinked, caught off guard. "See ya," he whispered before opening the door and disappearing. I stood there for a moment, the feel of his lips still tingling on my cheek.

Then Jake, being his stupid ass self, smacked me on the back. "Well," he began, "You should go get dressed before we leave for the Cullen's."

I cocked my head, miffed that he had sent my gentleman caller away, and said, "I dunno, I'm kind of comfortable wearing what I'm wearing now."

Jake nearly choked on his spit. "No, no," he insisted. "Esme might have a heart attack."

"She's already dead," I pointed out.

"Just go change!" Jake yelled frantically, looking everywhere but at my body. He's very obvious.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm goin'," I conceded and dragged my feet back to the bedroom where my clothes lie in a rumpled mess on the floor. Stupid boy.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Once again, I apologize for the shortness of the chapter and the lack of timely update! Reviews are still really nice :D Thanks!


	11. Love in Geometrical Shapes

**Author's Note:** Welcome to the 11th chapter! Sorry it took so long again, I'm suffering from sever writer's block, ugh!

**Disclaimer:** Reece and her mother are mine :)

* * *

Poor awkward turtle.

It was most definitely dead after all of the awkwardness in the Cullen household. That's how awkward it was. So awkward that the awkward turtle was overwhelmed with all of the awkwardness and went into cardiac arrest, survived, then offed itself.

Poor, poor turtle.

So basically I'm in the middle of a hideously weird and tangled web of 'what ifs' and 'what nots' and 'had this happeneds'.

Apparently, had Edward remained a human he would have died forever ago and never been in Bella's life and therefore she most likely would have ended happily ever after with Jacob. That, however, is clearly not the case.

Obviously.

And so now Carlisle is hypothesizing that if Bella and Edward had not got down and dirty (Ew! Think happy thoughts! Think happy thoughts! Crap, I'm scarred for life.) then Nessie would never have come along and Jake would have somehow ended up with me. But, as it is, Nessie exists, and Jake imprinted on her. But now he's torn because I was his other 'option'. Jake had a lot of options in his life it seems.

However, unlike his first option of Bella, there is no vampire territorially protecting me. Instead there's just Jake's pack member. God this is so fucking confusing. And now I'm sitting precariously on one of the Cullen's many couches, contemplating my future and what the hell is going to happen in it. Because even though it goes against everything anyone knows about imprinting, Jake has a choice. A choice between Nessie. Or me. And I have a choice too. A choice between Jake. Or Seth.

And Bella has to choose between killing me and making herself feel better (she's a little ticked off that Jake has the option to ditch her daughter) or leaving me alone. I have a feeling she really wants to choose the first one, but that would definitely anger a few of the werewolves, and I doubt that would be a good thing either.

Right as I'm about to combust from the amount of tension in the room, occupants being Carlisle, Jake, Edward, Bella, and I, I glance at the clock and start in surprise at the time. "I have to get home," I blurt, for once not using that line as a lie. I mean, not only would my mom be freaking out right now and probably calling the Clearwater's house every minute because it was so late (having to stay at the Cullen's all day with Bella wanting to kill me and her child trying to become BFF's is not my idea of an amazing Sunday, thank you very much) but Jake and I also had school tomorrow. Not that I worry myself too much with school, but I know that Leah was probably about ready to strangle my mother, whose incessant phone calls would drive even the most patient and caring of werewolves insane.

And so, Carlisle set us free, but not without a warning: "Drive safe."

Thanks Carlisle. That's precisely what I wanted to hear at a time like this when your adopted daughter wants me to be taken care of by the mob, my new best friend is a werewolf that has imprinted on said adopted daughter's daughter even though he kind of likes me, and said werewolf's follower is head over heels in love with me. Then again, with all that bouncing around in my brain, I suppose a car crash might be likely. So hopefully Jake does heed Carlisle's words. Because I really don't want to find myself wrapped around a tree at this point in my life.

Sure enough as we pulled into my driveway my mom came hustling out to the car, bangles jangling around her wrists, hair frizzed out in a million different directions, eyes wide (although this is pretty usual for my mother), screaming "Where on God's green earth have you been?!"

"Just hanging out Mom; I thought you'd be happy I have friends," I stated in a very monotone manner, not exactly in the mood to tell my mom every single detail of my insane weekend.

"Nobody answered the phone when I called!" my mother chastised. "And I called several times!"

"You always do," I pointed out. "Besides, we were outside, getting some fresh air, which I hear is good for you."

My mom blinked. "Well you could've at least called to say you were going to be so late," she quipped matter-of-factly before turning on her heel and heading towards our front door, which I noticed she had painted bright, eye-burning yellow at some point today. I tell you, God only knows what goes on in that woman's head.

I turned to Jake. "Thanks for the ride," I said awkwardly, about to following in my mother's footsteps (now there's a scary thought). Right as I turned he reached his hand out and grabbed my arm, effectively stopping me dead.

He pulled his hand away so fast, as if an electrical current had sparked through him and our eyes clicked together, staring. "No problem," he quickly mumbled, and then sped away in the direction of La Push.

And that's when I realized I had felt that electrical current too.

Shit.

*

I really did not want to get up. First, I hated school. Second, I hated Mondays. Third, I hadn't done any homework. And fourth, I did not want to face Jacob Black.

Why, you ask? Maybe because as he drove away a horde of butterflies decided to move into my belly, despite the acidic juices that digest my food, and drive me half crazy all throughout the night thinking about how it had felt when Jake had grabbed my arm, brushing my hand in the process. And then thinking about how much I really would not mind holding that hand, or having that hand run through my hair and whatnot.

But after all of those weird and happy thoughts, I guilt tripped myself all the way home when Seth's image proceeded to dance in front of my eyes. How could I possibly feel such things for Jake when I was totally meant for Seth, literally. I mean, fate had chosen us for each other, who was I to fight that. Yet, I didn't want to let Jake go so easily. But I didn't want to find out if he felt the same. Because either way it was going to end badly.

If he didn't feel the same, I'd be torn apart, wondering endlessly like some pathetic girl why I wasn't good enough for the great Jacob Black. If he did feel the same, I'd be torn between him and Seth, and I just didn't want to hurt Seth.

And that is why I faked the flu, complete with nasty mucus (which was actually left over mac'n'cheese cheese that I had found in the fridge) and dear dear mommy let me stay home. "Well, we'll see if you ever go to spend time with that friend of yours again," she grumbled to herself.

I shook my head, not wanting my mom to be mad at Leah for something that was most definitely not her fault. "Nah, it's okay mom, it's not a big deal," I tried calming her, "For all you know, I caught it at the shrink's office."

My mother stood up abruptly, going very stiff. "Dr. Gardner would never allow his office to become contaminated by such a thing," she defended. I raised my eyebrow. I had no idea why my mom was so protective all of a sudden, nor did I know why she thought some dude would be able to prevent the flu from ravaging his office's waiting room, but whatever.

"Chill mom, I was just saying, I could have gotten it anywhere," I glanced at the clock wearily. "Besides, you're going to be late for work."

And BAM, my mother was back to being herself, bustling every which way to make me comfortable and reminding me that there was soup in the cupboard and if I needed something, _anything_, she was just a phone call away.

I nodded to all of this, the entire time silently praying she'd just leave so I could plop down on the couch and watch old TV shows on TVLand.

"Okay, well, I best be going," she chimed, flitting out of the room finally, allowing me some breathing room.

Once I heard the tires of her car driving down the road I crept down the stairs and opened the fridge. You have to have munchies if you're going to watch shows like _Bonanza_ and _Leave It to Beaver_, specifically popcorn, Oreoes, and peanut butter. As I excitedly set my banquet out on the coffee table before nearly sinking into the couch, I was interrupted by the doorbell.

Now who the hell was at my door at nine on a Monday morning disrupting my marathon of amazing old shows? Embry, apparently.

"Hello?" I said, raising my eyebrow perfectly.

He grinned. "I was assigned to spy on you today," he informed me, "But since you're not even going to school I thought I may as well join you." He grinned again.

I rolled my eyes and opened the door wider. "Seth know about this?"

Embry chuckled, "Yeah, he knows who's scheduled when. He's not too happy that he has to share you, but Jake insisted that everybody take a turn. So here I am." He crashed down onto the sofa, grabbing up my bowl of popcorn and taking a handful. "So what're we watching?"

I wasn't really in the mood for werewolves that day; I needed my alone time. "Chick flicks." Embry's eyes widened slightly, but it still hadn't scared him off. Yet. "I think I'm going to start with _The Notebook_, it's such a good one, I always end up sobbing," I informed him, emphasis on the sob part.

The boy gulped. "Ya know what, I should probably go back outside, ya know, in my wolf form, in case one of the guy's wants to get a hold of me…" He threw the bowl of popcorn back down on the table, bolting for the door. "See ya later Reece!"

And he was gone.

Never underestimate the fear of tears.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Don't forget to leave a review! Also, I now have a Twitter that you can follow me on if you feel like it! My username is _Corkster_


	12. Cheat

**Author's Note:** Okay, so this is a rather short chapter, and doesn't have much of the wolf pack, however it does introduce a family situation that will greatly impact Reece's eventually decision between Jake and Seth...dun dun dun!

**Disclaimer:** So yeah, I think by now you guys know this part...

* * *

"You missed school yesterday."

"No shit, Jake. Ya know, I heard werewolves have super senses, but your observation skills just blow my mind."

Jake looked away, annoyed with my attitude. "Sometimes I don't know why I like you."

My head snapped up from the Chemistry book I was pretending to read. I mean, who really needs to know the six strong acids from the six strong bases? That wasn't going to help me when I was married to a werewolf someday. "Say what?"

"As a friend," Jake quickly, and pathetically, recovered.

I rolled my eyes. "Right."

"No, seriously," he began an attempt to defend himself. "I like you…in no way more than just a friend."

I nodded, giving him a knowing look. "I'll take your word for it." I flipped a page in the book, eager for a new picture to look at, when the bell rang. Jake and I packed our stuff up and headed for the door. When it came time for us to part ways I added, "Oh, by the way, you suck at lying."

His face turned a tomato color and he looked as if he was about to die of embarrassment. I grinned, spinning on my heel to walk in the direction of my locker.

*

"Uh…dad?"

I had just burst through the door, expecting my mother to run at me with a thermometer to make sure I hadn't relapsed, but instead all that I saw was my father perched on the couch with his face in his hands.

"Humph?" he snorted, surprised at my presence, as if he had just noticed I was there.

I waved and squinted my eyes in question. "What's up?" My dad usually worked from sun up to sun down, figuratively speaking, considering in Forks the sun rarely came out, and I rarely saw him before dinner.

"Oh," my dad waved his hand, dragging his fingers through his hair. "I just…came home early today." He lifted himself off the couch, giving me a pinched smile and patting my head as I walked by.

I blinked, not understanding his odd behavior. I dropped my backpack next to the bed and stepped into the kitchen to ask my mom what was up. Maybe dad's job wasn't going as my parents had hoped it would. That would suck. I certainly didn't want to move again. "Mom?" I asked.

She was facing the stove, hunched over and trembling. She turned abruptly at the sound of my voice, as if she hadn't heard me talking to dad just a few feet away in the adjoining room. Her makeup was smeared and for once her fluorescent orange lipstick was MIA. She looked worse than my father. "Oh, honey, I didn't hear you come in," she stammered in a high pitched squeaky voice.

I raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

My mother's lips pursed and she looked considerably paler than a woman who frequently fake baked should have been. "I'd rather not talk about it right now. Baz should be home soon; then, maybe, your father will have calmed down…" She trailed off, eyes going blank, and returned to stirring whatever it was that was on the stove.

Baz had better get his ass home soon, I couldn't take much more of this freaky business. I wondered for a moment if angry vampires could possess bodies. Maybe the vampire that tried to kill me but ended up getting killed herself's clan was attempting to mess with my mind through making my parents act even weirder than they were. I banished that thought from my mind though as I realized they probably would have offed me by now. Unless insanity seemed a better punishment…

The front door slammed open as Baz entered the household, babbling on about protons and neutrons. That was as far as my chemical knowledge went and I zoned out the rest as I corralled him into the kitchen. "Look mom!" I exclaimed theatrically. "Baz is home! Yay! Now will you tell us why you and dad are acting like depressed robots?"

Baz glared up at me. "It is highly unlikely that a robot would be depressed, as a robot is a machine and incapable of feeling emotions of any kind. I'm sure a robot could be encrypted to register when another being was feeling a certain way, but it's nearly impossible to get metal and cogs and bolts to emote fear or happiness or depression."

"Shut up and sit down," I ordered, shoving him down with a bit more force than I had intended. "Mom?" I asked again hopefully.

I mother blinked a few times and I noticed tears brimming in her eyes. "Go get your father Basel."

Once Baz had vacated the area my mother burst out crying, composed herself, and tried smiling at me. She ended up looking very much like the Joker. Not comforting let me tell you. Baz dragged dad into the room and I noticed the way he eyed my mother. Hurt and anger and sadness clouding his gaze. What the fuck?

"Spill," I demanded.

"Don't talk to your parents in that tone," my mother scolded.

"Don't yell at our daughter," my dad lashed back at her.

Baz was staring between them in confusion and I raised an eyebrow, wrinkling up my nose. "Spill, please?" I repeated in a softer, calmer tone. The kind of tone you would use with a rabid dog that's about to fucking rip your head off.

My mother put one hand on her hip and dragged the other through her hair. "Go ahead," my father spat. "It's your story to tell. I was merely in the way."

"That's not true," my mother argued, voice quaking, once again on the verge of a meltdown.

"Mom," I hissed. "Just let it out."

"I've, um, well," my mother chuckled nervously as my father's glare grew stronger, "I've been seeing Dr. Gardner."

I rolled my eyes. "We all have," I pointed out, hoping that maybe I wouldn't have to go back to another family therapy session.

"You are an idiot," my brother growled beneath his breath at me. I stared down at him and shrugged my shoulders, not understanding.

And then it hit me. It me like a ton of bricks that had just toppled off of the top of a building; like a piano falling from a building and inevitably crushing a zombie; like a wave crashing on top of a sand castle. You get the point.

My mom was sleeping with our therapist. That would be a grand story for the wolf-children I'd eventually bring into the world. I can just see us all nestled together next to a fire during story time. 'And then, instead of opting to talk to a volleyball named Wilson grandmother decided she was going to screw the shrink.'

Seriously, curse life.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Oh dear!


End file.
